I've mentioned my "3K" quite a lot lately ... mainly because I've been pretty well confined to it over the 42 days of Boris's Lockdown ..but it has just occurred to me that most of you will be wondering what it is.And why. So ..here's what I wrote about it on 8th August 2018 ... post 16 it was. I've updated it in a few places ... About 8 years ago, the Significant Otter broke her foot. Suddenly, my birding activities more or less ground to a halt. It was amazing how much she couldn't do .... and what she could do was very slow. I always needed to be around in case anything went wrong as well. And even after the months of recuperation, she didn't feel she could start driving again, so I ferried her around everywhere for over a year. She's one of those people who has lots of friends ..all over the place. This was pretty awful for both of us. And it collapsed most of my birding activities drastically. But I did a very rational and positive thing. Rather than complaining about not being able to whizz off all over the place in search of birds, I decided to do everything I could within a short distance of where I live. I got out the OS map and drew a 3km radius around my house, to create a unique-to-me personalised "patch". I christened it the "3K." I used a protractor ... not one of those cheapo amateur tractors . It has its advantages . Nobody could do better than me in my unique dinky circle. It was mine and mine alone. That in itself was quite a neat thing! And what's more, I could get around it on foot if I had to. Very handy in the lockdown. I'm lucky enough to live close to an estuary, a river, several ponds and lakes, a big wooded park, a canal, a salt marsh.... and even the area around my house is pretty productive too. We have a "wildish" garden and also a small " orchard" ... a special one with no apple trees ... but it sounds good. I worked "my" 3K avidly ever since ..... far beyond the need to. It was good to be out of the rat-race, and not to be too bothered about distant rarities. After all, I'd seen a hell of a lot of stuff and could hardly complain that I hadn't had a good bash. And now I've gone a stage further. I don't year-list any more. I record the highlights of what I see day by day, but I don't total it all up ... I couldn't tell you what my "year list" is so far this year, nor what it was last year. I just enjoy what I see as I go along. And I have to say, I find it quite relaxing. I suppose nowadays they'd call it downsizing. And in these Lockdown Longeurs it has been almost my only "arena" in which to operate. We'll have the same song as I did back then ... Here's a Kate and Anna McGarrigle song ... and a beautiful one too ... " Petite Annonce" ..... It's called The Rat Race because everyone's Running After Ticks
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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