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Taking the lamb for a walk

The daffodils which were replaced by large headed daisies have now been replaced by thistles, the seasons move on and nature adapts. A dragonfly zips around the edge of a field happily on a glorious summer morning joined by two cabbage whites. 

A small lamb has escaped from a field and is now on a grassed public footpath happily eating the foliage of some plants. Upon spotting me it starts to walk off but in no great hurry, merely at the same pace as me in front so that had there been anyone coming the other way you'd be forgiven for thinking an old man was taking his lamb for a walk and had let it off the lead. 

In the corner of a field sits a hare. Like all great photographers I can tell the story of the one that got away as it was spooked by a man in a pink shirt walking a Jack Russell coming from the other direction. 

A selection of lambs and sheep stand facing a fence like they've been told off for being naughty and that's their punishment. Three lambs who have also escaped their field sit in the shade in the space of a swing gate which separates two fields. One gets up and moves instantly. The second does the same with a little bit of vocal encouragement. The final one only moves when I'm stood over it and only then reluctantly so. "I'm sorry there's no other way through. I know the midday sun is hot, you can go back now." 

A tow truck carries a police car closely followed by another police car. Is that life imitating art? 

A teenage girl on the other side of a field stops half way and does a 180° and walks back from where she came. She stops half way down a hill, does another 180°, walks up and then into a forest. On her head giant headphones. I'm guessing she's listening to U2 and still hasn't found what she's looking for. 

A man feeds branches into a chipper watched on intently by a boy of 3 or 4 who looks like he's found a real life hero. 

A man with silver hair pushes a small blue scooter. On the wheels small lights flash barely visible in the glare of the afternoon sun, a clever gimmick built for the night when most kids are actually tucked up in bed. A teenage boy swings a drawstring bag from side to side with an expression that reads I'm totally non-plussed... about literally everything. Another teenage boy is face timing someone who sounds like they might be pne of Alvin, Simon or Theodore. You may need to Google the Chipmunks. I surmise he's had all his hair cut off as the high pitched voice on the other end says he looks really different. His jogging bottoms have a logo emblazoned across his crotch which is not where anyone wants their eyeline directed to. 

Inside the fences of a gated school a police car on show with a group of kids gathered around and a woman all in black with NYC in large white letters on her T-shirt trying to look like she belongs. The other side of the fence, parents, grandparents and younger siblings wait for school to end. One shortish blonde woman preens her hair all the while turning and looking around. Most are like sheep in this heat crowded into small pockets of the available shade. Around the corner two parents smoke, still rebels years after they finished their own education. 

A teenage girl skips across a road carrying a long skateboard just as the lights turn green but she's quickly to safety. Four workmen stand by a drive but no actual work is going on. One has a shirt wrapped around his head trapped by a cap looking like a portly Lawrence of Arabia. 

Another portly man swaggers down a small hill wearing a hat and clothes that shout Man from Del Monte who didn't know when enough was enough when eating your own produce. 

Three men sit on the grass smoking and chatting without a care in the world. Small children are in a play area ignored by their mother who is busy talking, ignoring a toddler by her feet who's shovelling something into its mouth. At least if it's something it shouldn't be eating the hospital is 500 yards to their right. 

Out into nature and hundreds of purple thistle heads are flown over by a couple dozen cabbage whites. 

Months of growth of wheat crop now sit in sporadically dumped bales like giant weetabix as far as the eye can see in all directions. 

In an as yet uncut field of wheat a female deer jumps her way through the crops stopping occasionally to check the coast is clear. As she disappears from view a smaller one appears on a path remarkably unwary of a human in close proximity. 

A combine harvester can be heard working hard in the field behind a forest. On a closed road one lone workman is doing what all good workmen do, which is to again say nothing and makes that five spotted in total today. 

The silence on the closed road is rudely interrupted at its far end first by the siren of a fire rescue truck and then by an actual fire engine. 

A teenage boy and presumably his mother behind jog around a farmers field. If she's blowing and sweating at the bottom I'm glad I didn't meet her at the top. It's too hot to jog in this weather at any age, definitely too hot to be at it for a woman looking close on 50. 

Back in suburbia an old man walks purposefully clutching a lottery ticket in his hand. It could be you. It most probably won't be though. A young woman dressed in black walks with giant headphones cupping her ears. I can only imagine the pools of sweat gathering on various parts of her body. You only find out your ears sweat in these types of conditions.  

In a chip shop stands a balding portly man who definitely doesn't need any more of what he's ordered. Stood behind him a skinny teenager who looks like he needs double portions of everything on the menu. 

Two women stand in summer dresses chatting. I shouldn't generalise but their attire and location both suggest they've just come out from mass at the Carholic Church. 

A Muntjac barks in a field sounding like it's in dire need of a Lozenge or two for its throat. 


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