Moonlight

The past couple of nights have offered some fantastic views of the moon and moonlight over the estuary in Dartmouth. Last night I captured a magical shot of an golden moon rising above the castle. True to form however the picture was out of focus as I had my dog, Gandalf, on a leash in one hand and my mobile in other.

Still, it is yet another example of the novelty of this place and the wonderful light that it exhibits both day and night. Whilst I still feel that somehow I have managed to move into a waterside town that I invented in The Xandrian Quarters, I know that I am definitely in South Devon in the United Kingdom. Lebowa, similar in my mind as it seems, is most certainly the subject of the book, The Prawns of Lebowa located on an inland sea in the south of the world of Se Molde. All inside my head.

There is no such idyll in the world of Seagrum the Dwarf or rather, there may well be such images and vistas but they are all hiding in plain sight to the merciless bounty hunter of Florencetown.

So, to return to the real world, I find myself constantly in awe of the quality of light in this place. It could of course be that my eyes are losing acuity and this in some way improves what I perceive. All I know is that I have seen some splendid sights recently that have inspired me to think about dusting off my paints and getting a few paintings put together.

The previous night offered some lovely views of light on water from an equally large (but this time white) moon that hovered above Gallant's Bower. As it ran down along the surface of the water it seemed to gather up the lights from the last ferry and then to disperse across the rippled surface, gold on ultramarine with the lower part of Kingswear in the background.

Towards Bayards Cove, the light was a little more close up and personal, a little more fragmented.

Then again there is a larger picture with a shot across the river to Kinsgwear from the South Embankment on another clear and still night after the last ferry has packed up for the night and Dartmouth once more seems to be cut adrift from the rest of the world.