Enchanted Land

At last...back in Wales! For such a slow-paced, back-in-time kind of place time sure zooms on. I've been here for three weeks now but it seems like I've only just started to do what I intended. Knowing this is my last extended visit here I've taken to going back to some of my old favorite haunts and snapping a few photos so at least I can return to those great places in memory if no other way. So here are some of the places I've been visiting lately. I'll try to include some of my thoughts as I take you around these places. But somehow the photos seem to jump around alot and don't end up where they've been inserted. Anyway, I'll give it a try. This first photo is up in the hills of Radnorshire where I've been known to wander!

Of course time slips by for most of us and it has for me; now it's a week later and I haven't gotten very far with this entry - my first in over 5 months. There are a few folks who are actually interested in all these photos and things I have to say so I feel like I need to push through this and try to remember how to write again. If only those photos would stick where I paste them it would be a lot easier to write about a bunch of stuff, but bear with me! To the left (I hope) is a view of the Clywedog Reservoir which is situated up in some lovely hills near the pretty little market town of Llanidloes. Now I don't know what blogger is doing to these photos, but I assure you that the very prickly gorse in the foreground is a brilliant yellow; everything on here looks dark and dingy!

Since my most recent journey was up through mid-Wales and heading out toward northwest Wales I'll include a few photos of the trip I took on Sunday to the area around Llanidloes and the Clywedog Reservoir. It was quite a nice day with big puffy clouds in the sky, some sunshine, the gorse in bloom and ewes and lambs out there everywhere basking in the sun.

After driving all the way around the reservoir on a beautiful afternoon and kind of wishing I'd set out early in the morning and tried to WALK all the way around the reservoir I was just about to descend back into Llanidloes when up on a steep hillside above the reservoir I saw sheepdogs herding sheep. If you've never seen that, it is a real marvel. There were two men standing inside the fencing and a good place to pull over, so I did.

I thought the men were also just watching the proceedings, assuming there was some sheep farmer up there on that distant hillside with a quad bike (4 wheeler) directing those dogs to bring the sheep down for lambing or something. But no! I wasn't there a few seconds before one of those two men shouted commands and whistled (as they do at sheepdog trials) directing the dogs in steering the sheep to and fro like some amoeba slithering around on a glassy surface, they surged this way and then that. It was amazing. I stood quietly observing (and they didn't know I was there) and taking a few photos. Soon the sheep were off the hill and sort of flowed around the two men, engulfing them and then passing them at a full run, sheepdogs still guiding them at breakneck pace. The men then turned toward me and we began chatting. I learned that they compete in sheepdog trials and know two of the border farmers with whom I'm acquainted who also compete. It is a small world. This connection made them even friendlier and soon they were telling me all about it and about this breed of sheep - the ewes looked magnificent and were possessed of a very thick, rich coat of wool. This breed are Lleyns and are fairly uncommon. Not only that but they can run with the best of them.

Now keep in mind all this was taking place on a beautiful afternoon overlooking a breathtakingly beautiful view of the Clywedog Reservoir as the sun was making its way down behind the hills. It simply doesn't get any better than this and I found myself wondering why I hadn't discovered this spot long ago!

This last photo is of Meg, a wonderful sheepdog who performed like an Olympian and was totally chuffed (thrilled) by a pat on the head and a "well done" from her master, Glyn Williams.

More to follow.

A Fox on the Run

I took this picture many years ago when I first started coming to Wales. I was standing by the roadside talking with a group of friends and just happened to have my little point-and-shoot Nikon in my hands. As we looked over at this green field, up popped a fox and wasn't he running. It was a truly beautiful sight and I reckon he may be out there running yet.

Who says a fox on the run ain't a beauteous thing? He was a dandy to be sure.

Big Apple, Small World

So here I am in that heaving, hot city often referred to as the Big Apple, yet I've had just one in a string of "small world" experiences. It happens a certain friend at a record label asked me while in NYC to walk up West End Avenue and snap a picture of a building he once knew. So off I trod with my big Nikon and wide angle lens in my own little world. I didn't bother to look at anyone since my sister is about the only person I know in the entire city and I know she's at work. All of a sudden I hear someone shouting my name and there's my buddy Pete who happens to be walking his little girl over to a friend's apartment building for a party of something.

We stop and chat a minute about how we'll all meet up in about 10 days way down in Bristol Virginia at Sam and Susan's for a barbeque and picking prior to the festival we always attend up at Ralph Stanley's old home place near Coeburn, Virginia. The phone rings and our buddy Nicky is calling and Pete says, "Guess who I just ran into on West End?"

Now the funny thing is that just about a year ago Doyle Lawson and his fine band were in Manhattan playing at Joe's and then at some yacht race in the financial district. So I went over there and again was not paying any attention at all to the folks around me....till I heard my name called and there was Pete, the same Pete. I suppose I could start wondering about him but really it was just one of those small world moments.

So yesterday I had a really nice flight (I hate to fly) from Heathrow to NYC. There were only 79 passengers on the 777. I was one of the few who didn't opt to take an entire row of seats and lie down. But I sure wish I'd brought back that guitar I wanted to bring back...there was plenty of room in the cabin after all.

Tonight it's off to the Catskills for a few days before heading off on my summer's work. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to go riding a couple of times with my sister and maybe we'll see some deer and wild turkey around her house. I love that place (refer to last summer's blog entries).

My last days in Wales were wildly eventful as the loose ends were tied (and I hope I didn't neglect too many) and I had a round of tearful goodbyes with so many friends. It feels like my life is over there, yet I'm obliged by citizenship to live here. Oh well, I'll make the best. It sure is good to see friends and family over here once again.

In a few days' time I'll try to post more photos. I know Leon is going to be disappointed that I didn't manage to sneak Mavis and Betty (those adorable Basset pups) away from Beryl and Phil, but hey! they do love them so. Meanwhile Pip the Cat (all 30 pounds of him) continues to expand and I really do wonder how he gets around at all. I will post some frightening photos of him the next chance I get. Meanwhile I shall develop for him a more rigorous exercise program, perhaps incorporating some tai chi. Right.

It was a great six months in Wales and I hope to return there the next chance I get. Meanwhile, I'll make the best of being here. It's summer in NYC but it'll be early spring just 3 hours away in the Catskills, I reckon.