Random things in September

Looking back on my photos from September shows the usual array of “adventures” which I feel fortunate to regularly enjoy. From trips to hiking areas a good distance from home, driving my ultra-reliable and comfortable Audi over a couple of mountain pass roads, to visiting family in the U.K. (again).

Our trip to the south and south-east of England last month was nice, even though we didn’t get up to anything hugely exciting. We visited Bracknell, where I used to work in a big, smoked-glass office complex for a large telecoms company back in the 1990s, and found that the town centre has changed hugely since I was last there. Where once were brick office buildings akin to those which fans of “The Office” will recognise, there are now towering modern edifices to commercialism. It’s a big change for the better, although I’d been half-looking forward to seeing the slightly dishevelled shopping precincts through which I used to stroll at lunchtime.

Back home, we collected a new car for Jo: a lovely, bright-red 2004 Mini Cooper S, which caught our eyes over the course of a couple of weeks each time we drove past it on the parking area in front of the village garage. I’d stopped off a couple of weeks earlier and checked that it was for sale, given that there was no price in the window, and jumped at the chance when we found out that we could afford to buy it outright, with no need for entering into debt.

Hiking season has begun and although the weather is grotty this weekend, and extra work calls, I’ve been out a few times over the past few weeks. The walk I enjoyed the most was to the lunar landscape over which the glaciers near the Susten Pass road used to scrape. I parked up at the top of the tolled access road at Steingletscher and walked over to where we hiked with friends nine years ago. The glacier has retreated by a considerable amount, but the upper reaches — to which I sent my drone on the extent of its range — are still hugely impressive.

Droning over the first hint of autumnal water at Faulensee
The lower reaches of the Steingletscher glacier

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *