Beyond the Ruins

My camera is filled with pictures of flowers, sea creatures, and stones. I have videos of rooks in a rookery, puffins floating near their Staffa breeding grounds, and so many snails tucked in the old rocks of a Nunnery.

iNaturalist and Merlin are my guides.

Did you know Eurasian Blackbirds have the most beautiful songs, or the Common Cuckoo sounds like a cuckoo clock (perhaps the other way around). Cuckoos filled my childhood home every hour. Calling from a huge German cuckoo clock, it never occurred to me its song mirrored an actual bird.

In my past travels, my camera roll was filled with ancient architecture, famous sites, whatever I was “supposed to be seeing”, but this time around, I am only drawn to flora and fauna.

Living in the woods did this to me. I can’t see a bird or plant I don’t know and not want to know who it is.

My favorite part of this trip is seeing life beyond the ruins.

My phone captures the reminders I continue to need. When things fall to pieces, growth follows.