One morning, I spotted somebody's Christmas remnants and heard Fleetwood Mac leaking out of a popular cafe before resting in a park while a pair of masked lapwings patrolled the grass near me. Another morning, a wafting smell of food grabbed me as I crossed a railway bridge, and just nearby, a friendly cat talked to me from somebody's garden. The cat had so much to tell me, in fact, that it jumped the fence into a neighbouring garden to continue meowing to me as I walked away.

The streets remained quiet, though, for which I'm grateful. My restless mind craves a chance to breathe, to listen, to explore without the stress of a crowd. Sometimes, I'm revisiting memories; Sometimes I'm thinking about conversations I need to have, and it's all part of a never-ending battle to Remain Present. Music helps, and often it's the soundscapes that really help.

#walks #photography #weekends #wandering #restlessness #music #ambient

This was a post from Cos.

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A public holiday today gave me something to aim for, though. I forced myself up and out into the cool, reasonably early morning air for breakfast somewhere long forgotten and a walk through some less-remembered streets.

It's lovely to be up so early that you can have some space, even in the inner suburbs. There are people, but not all the time; not so many to invade your thoughts.

Near Carlton Gardens I found a single light pole full of seemingly sociable birds – none of the other nearby ones were like this.

Reaching the core of the city I felt the heat rising, and figured it was a good time to close the loop by hopping on a tram towards home. Stopping for a coffee just near home, I couldn't quite overcome my shyness around asking the staff how to order a long black coffee in Mandarin (is it a 美式咖啡 or something else?). Next time, I swear.

#walks #photos #Leica #digital #Melbourne

This was a post from Cos.

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I'm really happy with this quick phone shot – it makes a lot of the recent #walks feel worthwhile.

#photography #windows #waves #lines #shadows

This was a post from Cos.

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I continued to meditate and exercise every day at home (but more on that elsewhere). I walked a bit, in accordance with our current lockdown rules. Having lived in this area – as a non-driver – as long as I have though, I’m already intimately familiar with every street within walking distance of my home. That’s ok, because there’s still plenty to look out for – cats in windows, interesting plants, strange cars, or other previously unnoticed details of a house. Sometimes a house is suddenly, completely gone. It’s harder to find interesting things to noice about newer contructions, though I suppose they’ll find a way to seem “quaint” in a few decades’ time. I at least managed to make myself use one of my other cameras while I walked – the eternal struggle of not just using the iPhone is real.

One of the things I thought I’d do was to catch up on a backlog of technical work for various home systems and/or projects, but I found myself wanting to avoid the room I work from – I’m on holiday, after all, and spending hours at the same desk I’d be at during work time felt…unnecessary. Instead, I read a few books, listened to a lot of music, watched a few old movies, took far too many photos of the cats and did some gardening.

There’s plenty of other things I should have done, mostly around contacting friends or home improvements but it’s no secret that, as with many of us right now, I’m tired, and so just having some personal space feels like the best thing I could do for myself.

What was the best part? All of those nothing, in-betweeny moments. Noticing the sunlight on our sleeping cats, feeling the sun on my face in the back garden, and sitting alone in a room with nothing in particular to do.

All of that feels like enough, now, and it feels time to return to the world. Here goes the re-entry…

#photography #life #walks

This was a post from Cos.

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Walking remains a key part of my mental health regime. After a week stuck in a small room at home on innumerable Zoom calls, I need the peace and quite of the changing ground under my feet, and some music in my ears. I don't need to go far – my immediate surroundings change constantly, and there's always little things to notice. Late last year, a building that seemed like it would never change (having remained the same for over a decade) was suddenly emptied of the detritus out front, and demolished:

So it goes, in our suburb.

#Preston #walks #photography

This was a post from Cos.

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There are tiny hints amongst the blankness – subtle things, not the wall-high scrawls – I appreciate the little notes.

Remnants of another milk bar that succumbed to the ravages of our times, though I struggle to remember the particular nature of this one.

Really, it's just nice to be out, seeing nothing in particular.

Musical accompaniment was something new (competely unheard) and something old (but not listened to for a long time):

• Nat Vazer's Is this offensive and loud?.
• Luna's first album Lunapark, having just discovered the demos.

#Preston #walks #photography #music

This was a post from Cos.

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