Tuesday 22 February 2011

Head in the clouds


As I approached, a figure broke from in front the plinth and crunched up the pathway toward the thicket of pines on the ridge, leaving a whiff of ck-One on the breeze. Her (for that is what I surmised from the gait) vest flapped in the draught, and her shoulders weighed her down. A sense of muttering accompanied her.

It was morning; I was alone, save for the heat of the day making its presence felt early. I turned to survey the returned statue, a stranger in a foreign land. That was when I saw the offering, wilting, as flesh and blood is want to do in the presence of cold, hard marble.


Dickens never came to this county. His is not a style that resonates down here. The linked article tells the story of the statue.

18 comments:

Mark said...

I am glad Dickens got his head back!

brattcat said...

A favorite here in New England. So interesting that is not the case in Australia. Images and text set a perfect tone here, Julie.

Luis Gomez said...

Thanks for the article Julie. Nice that he is back in shape.

lorinb79 said...

Even if Dickens didn't make it to Australia himself, he sent a few of his characters there to make a fresh start away from the confines of England. Beautiful shots!

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Beautiful photos (love that first one best) and exquisite story... Your words are magical, my friend.

Bises,
Genie

Mary Ann said...

I couldn't relate to Dickens at all until I moved to Beirut. Now it's pure delight.

The other day I finished David Copperfield. I loved it. Like all Dickens books that I've read, fortunes are made and lost, there are fallen women and terrorized children, and eventually, someone migrates to Australia.

Kay L. Davies said...

I must admit I had my struggles with Dickens, too. Perhaps it was the darkness of the times about which he wrote. I don't know. I've never given him a second chance, although I've often thought I should.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Joe said...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom..." - A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens ... Julie you have captures Dickens perfectly.

Ann said...

the subtlety of the colours and compostion of the top photo are beautiful.

Jim said...

Beautiful shots. Great restoration. I saw the story in the Herald recently.

Bob Crowe said...

I would never think of Dickens as deserving a gift of roses. The photos make me think of Carlos Gardel's tomb in Buenos Aires. It is topped by a life-size black marble statue of the singer. Someone always leaves red roses at his feet and a lit cigarette in the outstretched fingers of his right hand. He deserves it.

Julie said...

What an excellent comment, Bob. Thank you for telling us of Gardel's admirer.

Windsmoke. said...

Been reading Charles Dickens since my school days fantastic author, my favourite would be Bleak House :-).

Peter said...

the head shot against the sky is ... pause

Julie said...

... unpause ... the origin of the title ... uuhuh ... the head being the bit that went missing ... well picked.

diane b said...

I hope the vandals don't attack it again. Love the sad flowers. It took me ages to find the link. Can you make links a different colour?

Julie said...

I tried to do that this morning when even I could not do it. But that makes every link a different colour ... and upsets the balance. Well ... better an upset balance than an upset reader.

Joan Elizabeth said...

They joy of photography .. noticing things like the offering of flowers.