Dancing in the street – music in the street – is part of our heritage. Part of the heritage of just about every nation on earth. Music helps us celebrate moments of spontaneous community togetherness. It provides rhythm and atmosphere for traditional dancers in town streets and squares who’ve come to entertain us, of course, but who would cheerfully make music and dance together even if we hadn’t turned up.
Here in the UK, brass bands appear when there’s a civic or community event to celebrate.
And individuals with guitars, saxophones, voices, even pianos scratch some kind of living by performing to any pedestrians prepared to listen.
My header image – the worst photo on earth – is one I love, for somehow conveying the joy in this community in Barcelona – Gràcia – brought together for one special day of events, singing and dancing to celebrate their love for their own special corner of the city.
So why not get out onto the streeets today and see what music you can find?
Ritva is our host for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Music. Some of the photos I chose were monochrome, so for consistency I made this a post of black and white images. To the undoubted disgust of some of my readers – looking at you, Jo.
At this time of year, peak English apple harvesting season, I can’t stop lamenting the difficulty I have in buying apples from this country. And the even greater difficulty I have in buying seasonal favourites. When I was a child, I remember eagerly anticipating the very first apples of the season, and excitedly going shopping with my mother to buy the new arrivals. Beauty of Bath and Discovery apples appeared while we were still on summer holiday from school. Then it was George Cave and James Grieve, Then Worcester Pearmain, Laxton Supreme, Lord Lambourne…. Then Cox’s Orange Pippin. We still have those, but they’re not the same. We used to hold them to our ears and shake them to hear the pips rattle. They just don’t, not any more. Then Egremont Russets – still my favourites and – woo-hoo! Still available. Then finally it would be Blenheim Orange and last of all, Newton Wonder.
Apart from Discovery, Cox’s and Russets, I haven’t seen any of these for years and years. It’s all about Braeburns, Jazz and Pink Lady (which don’t even grow here) and a few others like Honeycrisp that hadn’t been developed when I was younger. All are crisp, juicy and pretty tasteless, compared to the old favourites. In my opinion.
Sally Coulthard has written just the book for me: The Apple – a delicious history. She has been cut from the same cloth as me, and is a Real Enthusiast.
She begins her book by telling the history of the apple. I had no idea that the ancestry of every apple we eat can be traced back to an area in what is now Kazakhstan. I had no idea that the apple was spread farther afield over many centuries along what we now call the Silk Road, and indeed that it reached Britain relatively late in the game. She tells us how its popularity waxed and waned as fashion and tastes changed over the centuries, and shares recipes and tips from every period of history.
The latter part of her book describes how old orchards, worldwide, have been grubbed up, and how we are all, worldwide, exposed to the same half dozen or so varieties, flown in from distant climes, year round, with no seasonal variation. She brings hope that growers are finally walking up to the dangers in pursuing this course, and in limiting the biodiversity espoused by all those dozens – no, hundreds – no, thousands – of varieties grown and formerly prized in every continent.
It’s fascinating stuff, and written with a light touch, guaranteeing that every page will be read and enjoyed. A book to be read by everyone who enjoys apples in whatever guise they are presented.
Hooray for the ancient orchards that do still exist. The Walled Garden near here, now a training centre for young people and adults with learning disabilities, used to be the Bishop of Ripon’s orchard. And praise be! The ancient apples and pears and plums grown in its heyday flourish still, are harvested and used still, and that’s where nearly all these photos come from. It’s having an Apple Day tomorrow, as it does every year, showcasing dozens of varieties of apple, selling its home-pressed apple juice, and generally involving the citizens of Ripon and beyond in discovering and celebrating something of our proud apple heritage. It’s good to know I’m not the only apple nerd.
A slightly uncertain entry for Anne’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: .Move your Body. She wants us to get near – or distant – from our subjects by physically getting in the right place for the shot. No zoomimg and so on allowed.Have I been gymnastic enough here? Probably not.
Looking for Birds Beginning with P last week, I came upon other birds, which didn’t. What many of them did have was their being water birds. The pair in the header shot are godwits. Here are a few others:
Flamingos at Slimbridge
A heron, a juvenile herring gull, and four cormorants.
A single image to tell a whole story. That’s what Ann Christine, in her Lens-Artists Challenge asks us to post this week. Many bloggers have already played along, and many have also told the story that goes with the picture. I’m made of meaner stuff. I’ll give you four photos. You provide four stories. Is that a deal? Your tales may not get much further than your head, but if you want to share them, I’d love to read them.
The featured image seems to be the aftermath of – well – perhaps you know?
And why is there a clock on a hedge in a country lane? Perhaps Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit knows?
We saw this scene in Málaga, but never found out more about this apparently appalling crime.
My last photo was also my last of the month, so qualifies for Brian aka Bushboy’s Last on the Card challenge. I don’t know whether there’s a story here, but judging by the racket coming down from the tree, there were plenty of stories being told.
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