Over the weekend, my wife and I went down to my brother-in-law's to just, well, get away, really. He's really into long walks and we hadn't had one of those in ages. We ended up walking along the beach at Dunwich and heading into Aldeburgh in the afternoon. My photography skills are not all that, but, when you've got a decent camera on your phone, that doesn't matter so much... :)
It seems fairly obvious to say, but there's something very pleasant about walking by the sea. Even when it's cold and there's no one else about. (Actually, that's not strictly true. We bumped into some blokes from the coastguard who were looking for ordnance that had been fired into the sea during training exercises during World War 2. That was pretty interesting, actually.)
The area directly inland from the beach was marshland. It is bleak, but inspiring territory. It's easy to believe that you're cut off from civilization with only the ghosts of long-dead women waiting for their lovers to come back from far-flung voyages for company. (Or possibly escaped convicts a la Great Expectations.)
This is a wind pump, long disused. Its only significance lies in being the only man-made structure visible on the marshes. Which is why I photographed it. Plus, I love ruined things... :)
All in all, it was a very pleasant - if physically demanding - walk. It did me and my wife an immense amount of good just to get away from things for a bit and immerse ourselves in the rather melancholy, austere beauty of this stretch of Suffolk. We don't do this kind of thing enough, really. The job's demanding. The family situation is similarly very busy. This kind of thing gives you, I think, a different perspective and an opportunity to remind yourself how vast and empty the natural world can be, how its rhythms and processes are both slower and more persistent than our own. It's humbling, but somehow energizing at the same time. :)
