Monday 10 March 2014

Skylarkin'

 Skylarking
 1. pass time by playing tricks or practical jokes; indulge in horseplay.
 "he was skylarking with a friend when he fell into a pile of boxes"
Cayuela, Spain, somewhere in the Spanish Meseta.

Spring is unfolding its long-awaited, desperately-needed and strong virtues. Three mallards are complicating - or is it simplifying - their lives in a threesome while their spectator's face colour slowly turns from a geeky-whitish to lobster-red.

To anyone in a temperate zone, these first warm sunny days, draped in blue skies, mean hope. From here on, things can only get better. We somehow worked our way through the dark days again, and a world of opportunities shines ahead.

 Interruption by 91 Lesser Black-backed Gulls heading north.

This is it. This is life. Fuck winter

 Golden Eagle low (~5m) overhead.

Along with spring and this feeling, the soundtrack of life starts over. If you live in an agricultural area, like I do, one of the most common songs you might hear, are the never-ending bursts of (Eurasian) Skylarks. If you are not familiar with this spectacle, have a listen to the following, and keep your ears open for it next time you set a foot outside.


To me, the skylark song is however not exactly in its own the soundtrack that buzzes in my head. They are the pre-cursor for re-starting my own soundtrack.

The full return of the skylark songs to me, is the stimulus for the record player in my head to spin up with Horace Andy's Skylarking song, and to start skanking my way through the countryside for the rest of spring and summer:

"Skylarkin' .. hmmm .. yeah.. skylarkin .. hmmm"

 Got a spring soundtrack of your own? Shout it out in the comments!