Highgate

[squirmelia]

I head to the right of the graveyard, looking for the tangled branches I saw from the road. Mud coats my feet, but I barely notice as I am very tired and haven't yet found the people I am looking for. I see a shiny orange ladybird scurrying over a plant that looks as if it is about to twirl and I'm glad I made the trip.

Highgate Cemetery (East) greets me with gnarled stumps, festering, rotting between graves. A yellow-shelled snail clings to a tree with bark that seems momentarily vivid red, purple and green. Leaves are draped over everything, even brighter still. Shelves of sprawling egg-coloured fungi grow underneath the evergreen gloss of holly leaves. I am too busy noticing everything alive to take photos of graves.

Later, when I have given up searching for who I came to see and I'm sitting on a bench in a slight dip near a tree with bright bulbous berries, I watch a squirrel leap from tree to tree and it is then that I hear the squirrel squawk. I had no idea that squirrels squawked so loudly and I wonder about other sounds that I've rarely noticed before or maybe never will hear, like the sound of a real thylacine or the voices of people I've only ever communicated with in text or even myself through someone else's ears.

Comments

Squirrel Squawk

[erinaf.livejournal.com]

toastedspleen insisted squirrels made noise and i told him he was insane. Now he makes fun of me every time we hear squirrels :/

Re: Squirrel Squawk

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Maybe you hear the squirrels because they are making fun of him for insisting that squirrels make noise.

[bickichick.livejournal.com]

what a lovely post it read like I was there w/ you

nice picture.
mine don't turn out all that well- as you can see from my earlier posts

I never actualy heard a squirrel- I see them all the time gre/ay ones

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked the post. :)

The squirrels in Southampton seem much quieter. Maybe there is some kind of conspiracy amongst them to be quiet when they see me.

[purplepiano.livejournal.com]

There's a big tree outside our house, and squirrels frequently emit squawks from it. I think it's a hideous noise, nearly as bad as cat vomiting, it sounds like they're ill.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

It reminded me a little of the sound of a cat heaving also!

[gnommi.livejournal.com]

it's next on my intinerary of "things to see really near to my house that i have to get a bus to"

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I think the west side is supposed to be better, since it is less cultivated? Think you're only allowed in there on a tour though.

[dhotmes.livejournal.com]

Was it red or grey squirrels squawking? Because the red ones might just be upset about the grey ones invading from the continent.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

It certainly wasn't a black squirrel. I mean, you might think they hang around graveyards, but nope, it seems not.

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.ukchatterbox.co.uk/members/john897

:)

[almond-tiger.livejournal.com]

That picture is beautiful, especially for Halloween time.

I've made a new flickr account that I hope to keep up this time. I've added you as a contact. I hope you don't mind. It's northnorthwest.