Small stories from nature – spinning yarns for all of us
Written by John Macpherson
Sheep’s wool, Sutherland © John MacPherson
I like the hidden ‘stories’ that reveal themselves to you when you start to get closer to landscape, and of course that is if you care to look. Like this little vignette of rock and lichen, wool and wind.
The fleece, caught by the roughness of the lichen and pulled from a passing sheep, has been frayed by the action of wind and rain. And then the loose strands ‘spun’ into a yarn by the wind, the fibres dancing around and around each other until they have created a perfect thread of wool.
It makes me wonder, did our ancestors learn from nature because they had a need to, a need we think we can forget?
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.
Discussion (3 Comments)
The arrogance, or maybe folly, of our species is thinking we can live, learn, and forget. It’s why keep repeating the same mistakes. A beautiful small story contained within a perfect image, capping off your previous post about the Lairg lamb sale.
Thank you Ed. Yes the sheep theme seemed to reach a lovely zenith in this picture. The surrounding landscape where I found this was stunning and easily overwhelmed you and it would be easy for this little gem to go unnoticed – part of the reason why I like it. But I just love these transient moments in landscape.
Thank you Ed. Yes the sheep theme seemed to reach a lovely zenith in this picture. The surrounding landscape where I found this was stunning and easily overwhelmed you and it would be easy for this little gem to go unnoticed – part of the reason why I like it. But I just love these transient moments in landscape.