In The Time Before™ there used to be (on most days at least) a regular set of routines that involved commuting, working, eating and getting some exercise (for starters) - and for me at least I would have added in taking a daily photograph too.
So what are my daily routines at the moment, and how have they changed?
Archive. Sharing a picture from my archive. I've been doing this for quite a few months now - but it feels like it's become more symbolic that ever - it's a reminder (for me, and I think others too) that there is still a world outside the OX3 postcode. I've been increasingly keen to share coast and mountain pictures especially pictures taken on Shetland. And the extra 'rule' I have is that the picture I share has to have been taken on the same date. Todays picture was taken in Å in the Lofoten Islands (on the Norwegian coast) on 8th May 2014 - and is of the world's only Stockfish Museum, which is also the local youth hostel.
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| Stockfish Museum, Å, Lofoten, Norway (8th May 2014) |
Exercise. Most days I've been getting out of the house as early as I can to fit in a decent walk before I start grappling with the work inbox. Usually this is 5 or 6 km, between 08:00 and 09:00, when the paths and parks are relatively quiet and keeping 2m away from people isn't too difficult. And rather than just pavement bashing, I try and make the turning point on the walk one of my local green spaces - the C S Lewis Nature Reserve, Shotover Country Park, the Lye Valley or one of the local parks. Just occasionally, I'll just do 3, 4 or 5 laps for Bury Knowle Park (just at the end of the road). And very occasionally, the exercise bit is covered by doing work in the garden - when it happens, that's usually a weekend thing - that was the case today, I only walked a couple of kilometres, but did stretch other muscles.
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| Bury Knowle Park, Oxford (4th May 2020) |
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| C. S. Lewis Nature Reserve, Oxford (6th May 2020) |
Pictures. I've been taking a daily picture for about 15 years, and I'm not going to let a Pandemic get in the way. So, I usually combine the exercise bit with finding a photograph or two, this also acts as a aide memoire about where my walk has taken me each day. Today's picture was in the back garden. The last time I took a daily picture outside the OX3 postcode area was probably in Wytham Woods (OX2!) on 7th March.
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| Daily Pictures, OX3 (April & May 2020) |
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| No Mow May, 8th May 2020 |
Planning. Over the last couple of weeks, I've started thinking about how I'm going to restart a long term photography project I was working on a couple of years ago. The Landranger Project was (and is) about taking pictures all over Scotland - and visiting every Scottish sheet in the Ordnance Survery Landranger collection (that's 85 sheets). There's more about the project elsewhere - I'm probably about half-way through. My current bit of the project (given that hauling round Scotland with a camera is frowned upon), is to spend time looking at each sheet and figuring out what I'm going to do when I do get there. And I've been writing a blog post for each one too - as a way of focussing the mind. Today was Sheet 61 (Jura & Colonsay) - haven't visited either of the headline islands (yet), but the activity did bring back memories of visiting Islay in 2002.
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| Landranger Sheet 61 |
Researching. The other regular activity I'm trying to progress relates to family history. I'm gradually working my way through each of my great-great-great-grandparents in turn and trying to see what further information I can piece together (from online sources) about them. I don't get to this everyday (sometimes work gets in the way) - but I've spent quite a lot of time recently unpicking the geography around Tain in the north of Scotland (OS Landranger Sheet 21) - once that's sorted I'll be heading south to Fife and then to the Borders.
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| Great-great-great-grandfather Andrew Mackenzie |
Eating. This is an important part of any (every?) day. Supermarket visits have become increasingly occasional - and various home deliveries much more important, including beer, coffee, bread and veg boxes. The biggest change this has driven has been proper lunches - it's much easier now to make some decent soup, and to stop and eat it away from the computer screen! And sometimes (at least on weekend days!) to have lunch in the garden.
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| In the Garden (8th May 2020) |
Blogging. And on Fridays, I write a regular blog post.
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