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Post by kate on Jul 2, 2024 8:35:38 GMT
For this theme I want to see your refuge places. Those places you escape to, to just sit and stare or contemplate the world going by.
We've all gone through fraught times in the last few years and stress is a daily condition, listening to reports of wars, of political fights, or rising prices, of uncertainties about the future.
We all need a safe space to be ourselves, with no distractions, and no expectations other than to relax.
For some of you this will be escaping to foreign parts. For others it is riding your bike or sitting on a bus or train looking out of the window. Perhaps it is visiting your favourite cafe or restaurant - or simply wandering aimlessly in the countryside. Perhaps the back streets of your town are an escape from your normal day. Maybe just walking the dog.
So show me how you chill out. Where and how you recharge your own batteries.
For myself, it was easy in my old home. I escaped to my little secret woodland and watched the dragonflies and other wildlife doing their thing. I always liked being amongst the trees, hidden from view.
How is it for you?
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Post by Kath on Jul 2, 2024 10:14:10 GMT
Lovely. Sometimes it feels quite hard to find anywhere peaceful when you live right in town, but I expect to be surprised by how many places I associate with winding down and chilling out. Looking forward to sharing them.
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Post by peterob on Jul 2, 2024 12:17:11 GMT
Not got any where like that. When I am stressed I shut down and going out to chill is just too much effort. The closest I've got to a favourite spot is a seat on the boardwalk at Burton Mere Wetlands. I thought I had a picture of it but I don't (or can't find it). At the moment everything is overgrown and it's like looking into a green wall. I'll try and get an environmental picture of the location sometime. In itself it is nothing much. I usually just have a big lens which isn't good for that sort of thing. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken from the seat (or close to it) in March 2020.  BV9R4716-Enhanced-NR.jpg by Pete, on Flickr |
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Post by zou on Jul 2, 2024 13:04:36 GMT
For this theme I want to see your refuge places. Those places you escape to, to just sit and stare or contemplate the world going by. We've all gone through fraught times in the last few years and stress is a daily condition, listening to reports of wars, of political fights, or rising prices, of uncertainties about the future. We all need a safe space to be ourselves, with no distractions, and no expectations other than to relax. For some of you this will be escaping to foreign parts. For others it is riding your bike or sitting on a bus or train looking out of the window. Perhaps it is visiting your favourite cafe or restaurant - or simply wandering aimlessly in the countryside. Perhaps the back streets of your town are an escape from your normal day. Maybe just walking the dog. So show me how you chill out. Where and how you recharge your own batteries. For myself, it was easy in my old home. I escaped to my little secret woodland and watched the dragonflies and other wildlife doing their thing. I always liked being amongst the trees, hidden from view. How is it for you? The quarterly theme is specifically about series, how many images would you like to see? |
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Post by kate on Jul 2, 2024 14:04:45 GMT
For this theme I want to see your refuge places. Those places you escape to, to just sit and stare or contemplate the world going by. We've all gone through fraught times in the last few years and stress is a daily condition, listening to reports of wars, of political fights, or rising prices, of uncertainties about the future. We all need a safe space to be ourselves, with no distractions, and no expectations other than to relax. For some of you this will be escaping to foreign parts. For others it is riding your bike or sitting on a bus or train looking out of the window. Perhaps it is visiting your favourite cafe or restaurant - or simply wandering aimlessly in the countryside. Perhaps the back streets of your town are an escape from your normal day. Maybe just walking the dog. So show me how you chill out. Where and how you recharge your own batteries. For myself, it was easy in my old home. I escaped to my little secret woodland and watched the dragonflies and other wildlife doing their thing. I always liked being amongst the trees, hidden from view. How is it for you? The quarterly theme is specifically about series, how many images would you like to see? You have so many places to find peace? I would suggest as many as you wish to post to give a flavour of the scene/ Ifd struggling, you can post pictures of the journey to add to the feelings aroused. |
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Post by kate on Jul 2, 2024 16:18:39 GMT
If it is all too tenuous, please feel free to supersede this topic. I really don't mind.
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Post by kate on Jul 3, 2024 7:42:26 GMT
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Post by Kath on Jul 3, 2024 9:34:33 GMT
I have been thinking about how to add some structure to this (for my benefit) and I think I'm going to pick three of the places that I consider to be my go-to spots for escaping the world and spend one month documenting each. I'll then present 12 images - four from each place - that hopefully convey something of why I find myself drawn to those places. One of the reasons for doing this is because I often feel the same way as peterob - when I most need to get out and chill, it's often the least thing I feel able to go and do, even though I know it will make me feel better than hiding away in my studio. Perhaps this will get me out more. My first spot will be the skating pond/reservoir complex at the top of Helensburgh. The empty upper reservoir is one of the few places you can go round here where you can no longer hear the traffic, mainly because the wind is usually louder. After that, I'm not sure. Could be the locals woods, the park or maybe even just the pier. I'm not a huge coffee shop lurker. I enjoy a coffee out every now and then but I don't find it particualrly relaxing. How people sit and read books, or work in cafes is beyond me! |
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Post by Chester PB on Jul 8, 2024 15:41:10 GMT
One of the most peaceful and pleasant places my wife and I have discovered in recent years (this may be because the only public access by land is by footpath). It is possible to sit there and only be interrupted by walkers, although once an eccentric windsurfer came around the headland and sat down to unpack a picnic from a waterproof bag. Sadly it's about 100 miles from where we live.
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Post by peterob on Jul 10, 2024 7:14:13 GMT
We found a new seat, from which the picture is taken, off the main path, at Bodnant, overlooking the pool that marks the beginning of the "far end", and quite hidden away. It is either "newly placed" or we have walked past it dozens of times. It was very peaceful, just the odd head passing below on a path about 10' down and passing below, and to the far side of, the tree to the right. This area is usually teaming with people because the pool, and the bridge over the weir that makes it, is a focal point. It used also to be the furthest accessible point of the garden, before they opened the "far end". Because it is so busy it is not somewhere we usually dwell. This was quite a discovery.  DSCF8301.jpg by Pete, on Flickr The weir and bridge. That are to the extreme right of the quiet picture. It is not usually possible to get a person-free photo of this. The light is terrible - when the sun is out then it is in deep shadow and if it is cloudy there is not much impact.  DSCF8309.jpg by Pete, on Flickr |
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Post by Kath on Jul 10, 2024 10:44:02 GMT
Just as an experiment, I did try going for a coffee with a book this morning. Didn't work. I ended up listening to the music they were playing instead. I didn't hate it but it wasn't 'peaceful'.
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Post by zou on Sept 27, 2024 17:25:44 GMT
Any progress to report? I wanted to get new images rather than just compile old ones, and time is running out. I have some, but wouldn't call them a set yet. Had a magical morning on Sunday or Monday where I stopped the bike 3 times to take pictures, and wished I'd had a better camera on me than my phone.
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Post by dorsetmike on Sept 27, 2024 18:19:55 GMT
Summer evening in the Purbecks
(more to follow)
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Post by Kath on Sept 28, 2024 14:33:09 GMT
 240928-Jean's Bothy-003 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-004 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-006 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-007 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-008 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-002 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240913-Jean's Bothy-001 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-011 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-009 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-010 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-001 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-005 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240927-Jean's Bothy-003 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240928-Jean's Bothy-001 by Kath Polley, on Flickr  240928-Jean's Bothy-002 by Kath Polley, on Flickr I had a long hard think about where is is that I go to find peace and calm, where I go for a sense of refuge. I could have chosen the local woods, or the walk up the hill with the views down on to Loch Lomond, even the beach or the local park. They're all places I choose to go when I feel like I need to get out of the house. And it's true, that while I'm there, I feel calmed and refreshed but there is another place I go, weekly, sometimes more often than that which has been absolutely instrumental in getting me through this latest period of depression. Jean's Bothy is our local Mental Heath and Wellbeing Hub and on the face of it, an ordinary looking bungalow at the junction of two busy roads into town which is often filled to overflowing with people engaged in all sorts of activities from walking football to diamond painting, cooking, crochet, woodcraft, needlework, writing, photography - might not seem the most obvious choice for calm. But there's a welcome there, and the walls feel like they've known happiness, and you can take part as much or as little as you wish. I've met some lovely, kind, creative people there and learned skills and coping strategies from them. Sometimes I join in the painting class, sometimes I take part in the book club, sometimes I just go and read in the garden, listening to the hum of activity around me and knowing I'm welcome there. It's a very special place. Also, you quite often go home with a bag of leeks or some radish and raspberries! |
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Post by zou on Sept 28, 2024 15:34:12 GMT
My peaceful place is just a few minutes away from home, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. 
Peaceful Place by Zou san, on Flickr 
Peaceful Place by Zou san, on Flickr 
Peaceful Place by Zou san, on Flickr It's an easy walk, and being so near home I usually don't sit on the benches but if one does one can enjoy the tide coming and going, watch seabirds and seals, or with a scope you could follow the action on the Edinburgh waterfront. There's usually a good breeze, so between that and the sound of the waves there's no need to bring your own music. |
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