Alastair Swinnerton

Yesterday, for the first time since my operation two weeks ago, I put on a pair of trackies (still can’t wear jeans), and shoes, actual shoes, and went for a little walk up the lane. I took my daughter’s old Nikon and its equally old 55-200mm lens, which together are way smaller and lighter than my own set up – I still have to be careful how much I carry at a time, and a kilogramme and a half of camera and superzoom is a little much to be hanging from my shoulders right now. I could have put the little 50mm lens on mine, but it’s rubbish at macro, and I wanted to take some bugs-on-flowers photos.

The field behind us has been festooned with brilliant yellow dandelions for a couple of weeks now, taunting me over the fence – it’s not a huge ambition, to walk a few hundred yards up the lane, walk the few hundred yards back down the field, just to take photos of dandelions, but up until now I’ve been getting pretty tired pretty quickly. But yesterday was forecast to be the last sunny day for a week or so, and I was determined to get out, even if it was only a slow shuffle.

There was also a bit of fear, to be honest, of lingering coronavirus, but as the only thing I would have to touch would be the string holding the gate shut that others may also have touched, I figured I could circumvent that by using a stick from the garden, which I did.

So, gingerly at first, while I figured out how much damage the operation and two weeks of no exercise had done to my energy levels, I wandered up to the field gate. The hedgerows have become much more green in the last few weeks, and full of life, with bees and bugs everywhere…

A Black Mining Bee covered in Dandelion pollen.

A hornet in a Dandelion, and also a little Pollen Beetle below it.

The beasties do love the Dandelions so – I believe it’s the colour that attracts them, and I guess they must taste very sweet.

The field was very dry, and very uneven to walk on, so I took it gently, as the last thing I need with stitches still in my stomach is to suddenly lurch! To be honest if I’m out on a photographic bug hunt, I usually meander along anyway, so no real difference, except this time the dogs weren’t with me – hopefully in the next few days I can at least accompany either Julie or Ella on a short, slow dog walk.

Once in the field, the hedgerows were still teeming with life…

A Harlequin Ladybird

A Honey Bee covered in Dandelion pollen

Even a House Fly is exciting after two weeks of being housebound!

I got to the back of our house, which was the goal, mosied around a bit taking photos, and then turned around and headed back again.

Dandelions carpet the path home

I will walk for longer today, now I know I have the energy to do it – in fact, when I got back, I felt way more energetic than even the day before. I guess it’s true what they say, exercise is good for you, even this little of it! Ella’s old camera did OK as well, not quite as pin sharp as I can get with mine, but pretty close. Mind you, as soon as I got home I ordered a newer (although still second-hand) 18-200mm lens for it!

So, the self-imposed curfew has been broken, and life, very slowly, gets back to some kind of normal, albeit a new kind of normal, because this morning I received a new contract from my lovely Chinese producers for not the promised five, but ten more scripts, so I guess I’m going to be scriptwriting again for a good while yet!