West Sussex

Hayward's Heath, West Sussex

I’m still recovering from surgery of 12 days ago, but, after a minor setback, I’m feeling little to no pain and getting stronger by the day. By spring, I should be totally healed, further strengthened, and good to go carrying gear on our mountain trails… but for the next couple of weeks, I can’t lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, which is a true aggravation. I have an appointment with the surgeon at the end of the month… hopefully, if everything goes well between now and then, he will lift restrictions and I can get busy attempting to chisel up the physique. I need to make sure I can continue my photographic aspirations sans “Sherpas” for years to come because Joyce won’t carry gear!

So, my current condition is good for sorting out images from our trip to England that I’ve yet to post. This one is of the gardens on the grounds of Arundel Castle. After touring through 700 miles of England, we caught up with Peter (www.flickr.com/photos/diskdoc) and his lovely friend Sandra… they really went out of their way for us and made Arundel Castle second on the camera agenda, and what a fascinating place it was! It was a typically English rainy day, so Joyce toured the castle with Peter and Sandra. I chose to take advantage of the weather here in the gardens… the structure you see here isn’t the castle, but rather a chapel on the grounds. The castle was some distance away, and as we were somewhat limited in our time there, Joyce texted to inform me where they were within the castle and inquired as to my location… “The gardens.” Just keeping it real. It’s somewhat funny to me that when we go to places, like Costco, for instance, something catches her eye and she walks off without me knowing that she’s left me. So, I text her with, “Where am I?” See what a good husband I am? I know it’s my fault for not keeping up! Sorry, my ADD kicked in… could be cabin fever… back to the issue at hand: It was a bit windy, too, so I had to open the f-stop a bit more than I would normally care to in this type of image. Yet, I find this image not only appealing, but also, it’s given me ideas for furthering my own garden projects… my castle’s only a little more than 1,200 square feet, however… I have work to do!