Looking for signs of spring, I had noticed a blackthorn out in all its glory beside the River Tillingham, so my walk took me this week from Love Lane past the allotments for a special photo-shoot.
On the way there I passed a fine display of daffodils outside Rye College, now just past their best.
Then, in a roundabout way, my route led me to the BMX skateboard park on the Cricket Salts, where I was stopped in my tracks. A young man was performing incredible stunts on his bicycle (see top photo), such that I had never seen even in the circus.
I went over to speak with him. “My friends call me Izzy”, he told me, “I used to live in North Salts but I live in London now and work as a hair stylist.”
Aged 19, he was in Rye visiting his family who run the Sculpture Salon at 94 High Street. Izzy Sparacia has travelled to Paris and Vienna and to Canada on a course to practice his profession, but hasn’t had any famous people yet among his customers.
These three photo opportunities taken together gave me a sense that new life is in our midst, despite all the gloom of a locked down world.
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .