Available Light

I had a day off today and went for a drive in the country, North past Waikouaiti and Palmerston and then Westward through the Pigroot to Naseby and St. Bathan's. I took my camera in case I happened on something picturesque, which was likely, given the amount of snow that has fallen on my diocese over the last week. Taking a camera out into the countryside is a wonderful excuse. A bit like the way having grandchildren is a great reason to buy and read all those lovely books that you are far too sophisticated for, having a camera and a bag of lenses gives a sense of purpose to an otherwise aimless jaunt through the hills for the sheer joy of seeing all that snow. I love snow. When I was younger and my legs stronger and my wallet fatter I liked to ski on it. Now I just like to see it; the whiteness of it, the sensuous rounded humpiness of it; the softness of it as it falls and gathers; the vast quiet power of it as it smooths the angles and artificiality of the landscape. Perhap...

After a long mild autumn the Winter has arrived and seems intent on making up for lost time. We had five consecutive days of heavy rain with floods in all the usual places where, in aeons past, bogs and lakes used to live and now want to return to check out the old family home. Then, in the high country at least, there was some snow. On Monday, a day off after a busy weekend, I drove up to Naseby to try and find some, and was not disappointed. There was snow knee deep beside the road all the way through the Pig Root and fog and hoar frost. In the fog free bits the sun shone brightly out of an inky sky onto a vast white landscape: my very favourite kind of weather, cold, clear, sharp, huge, still. This is the Maniototo; Middle Earth; Tolkien landscapes that need no photoshopping in order to flabbergast the punters. There was a stop or two for photos, and a swift trip down a back road into Naseby for lunch in a quaint little cafe. I learned that the new car can handle with panache a)bl...