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Sharon WIllan's avatar

Looking forward to your return. Happy listening and seeing into the depths of the Earth’s soul.

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India Flint's avatar

an airbrushed whisper of wilderness. Love.

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David Knowles's avatar

Hi Mike. No, I didn't know that. It must give you a whole universe of rich, under-reported memories. Such a wonderful, self-contained place. I've been a bit of nomad myself. Started out in a sort of march land on the south Wales border and travelled around ever since, listening to accents and places. Even the wrens have their local dialects :-)

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Barbara Churcher's avatar

Well, blow me over, fall me down! I have not been a traveller except the one journey to England some years ago and now I have been to Kirkby Stephen on a chilly Melbourne morning. Not only been there today but down the centuries. A time traveller. All in the space of a cuppa. You are a magician, David.

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks Barbara, that made me laugh out loud :-) Glad you could make the trip.

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Clare Jackson's avatar

'All the great travelling players who performed in the marketplace had a backcloth of swift.' So evocative, I love this connection through time, place and nature.

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks Clare, that is kind. Yes, it felt a bit over-ambitious :-) But sometimes it’s fun to take a leap!

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Clare Jackson's avatar

I think you nailed it.

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Karen Hackett's avatar

I will miss your words and be eagerly waiting for their return in September.

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David Knowles's avatar

That’s kind of you, Karen. I’ll see what I can dig up :-)

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DANA's avatar

Another beautiful and evocative piece... I love your writing, David! Thank you!

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks, DANA. That’s kind of you.

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Heather's avatar

You’re kind of an archaeologist of the tiny details of life. I love the the way you present the North of England to our eager ears, David. I echo others’ recognition of the magic that informs your portraiture. Have a wonderful small journey seeing what finds you. I shall be awaiting! Keep well!

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks. Have a good summer :-)

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Linda Winn's avatar

Thank you so much for the joy, insights and shifts in perception your words offer

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David Knowles's avatar

Hi Linda. Thanks for taking the time and for your kindness. I did smile to think that my weird way of looking at things might have refracted your vision too, for a moment.

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Erin Littlewood's avatar

Such a lovely piece, a feast for the imagination and a pace the ears can sink into. The accent is a welcome memory of my dad’s near-enough home near Durham. Thank you.

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks, Erin, that is kind. Isn’t it marvelous how evocative a tiny change in pronunciation can be :-)

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M. Iggy's avatar

That first paragraph 🥹

Enjoy your hiatus ✨🕊️

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks. I’ll see what finds me and hopefully have some tales to tell.

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Kimberly Warner's avatar

Wonderful, and painfully true. I close my eyes gladly and often, only to discover worlds so much more alive and immediate.

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David Knowles's avatar

Hi Kimberly. Oh yes, I’ll have been taking coals to Newcastle for you :-) That’s the great thing, writing here - always people ahead of you on one path or another.

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Susie Mawhinney's avatar

I wish you wonderful adventures David, filled with astonishment and learning...

"Besides, it is fearsome early in the morning. The heavy July air still carries the sticky dew which it failed to sell to the restless night fields, bereft of their flower-rich hay." I loved this, I loved it all, I always do, but this, after my day of battling unusually damp meadow grass, a dew that won't lift due such humid days, calmed blue air and aching bones alike. Now, I will sleep with the sweet song of swift and the learned discourse of Jackdaw - thank you ❇︎

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David Knowles's avatar

Ah, Susie, you are a rock :-) I’m not going anywhere much geographically speaking but I’ll see what the cracks and crevices here have to offer and report back.

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Vanessa Fielding's avatar

What a lovely and very evocative piece of the Old North to leave us with for your summer break. Oh, you've captured the essence of Kirkby in that Cumbrian jackdaw chatter! I love the way too that you've given the birds an immortal role - actors who've known these historic nooks and crannies forever. Hope you'll spend the next two months storing up magic for us!!

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks Vanessa. You’ve lived these places well, for sure. I’ll go and see what finds me and report back :-)

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Carri's avatar

Wonderful as always. I love the thought of jackdaws, going about their lives, living as they please. As humans, we're accustomed to thinking of ourselves as so important in and to the world. The jackdaws know better.

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David Knowles's avatar

Thanks Carri. Aren’t they just the best antidote :-)

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Carmine Hazelwood's avatar

Ghosts. I envy you a millennia of built history to anchor you somewhere in the stretch of human time. I lived in London for a while and found it both fascinating and eerie how present the past felt in certain places, how many visible layers were actively coexisting. Here, it is different. Thank goodness for birds, otherwise how would we know where we are at all? May your sensory well be filled. xo

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David Knowles's avatar

Hi Carmine. What a wonderful image - you wandering around London like some magical metal detector, sniffing out all the thin places.

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Carmine Hazelwood's avatar

Indeed! ☺️

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