A Cornish Commute to work

No person was hurt in the taking of these photos.

Driving to work in Cornwall at this time of year can be an utter joy, the hedges are filled with wildflowers each vying for space and showing off their beautiful colours.  For me it's the foxgloves that are the biggest show offs, standing majestically tall amongst the others, their colour jumping out at you, waving as you drive by.  I can't help but feel happy.

Of course I would like to have taken a photo of the view I have,  (I took the photos of the foxgloves on a footpath near my house) but it brings me to the downside of my commute to work.  Cornish roads can be very, very narrow, sometimes even down to single track with a few places to pass.  We are used to them and have our own code of conduct, If you are nearest a wider bit of the road, you reverse allowing the other driver to pass, always putting their hand up to thank you.  Some people learn this the hard way, gesticulating at you to reverse when they are a few feet away from a passing place, in which case the etiquette is to smile politely, but stand your ground.  They will soon learn the ways of country roads, oh and of course the fact that Cornish hedges are made of stone, so you don't mess with them, your car will come off worse.

Sat Navs, can be a wonderful help to drivers, but not always in Cornwall, especially for lorry drivers.  Every year we have reports of lorries stuck in country lanes or village streets.  This lorry looks like it is actually from Cornwall so the driver should have known better.

The other very frustrating problem can be tractors, their drivers sitting up in their high tech cabs, whistling along to the radio oblivious to the 200 cars stuck behind them.  The worst place you can be is immediately behind them, I can feel the drivers behind me urging me to overtake, even tho there is no room to get past them and too many bends in the road to see what is coming  I don't have a death wish so I follow on behind doing 20 miles an hour for the next 10 miles. Then there are the lycra clad cyclists, don't get me started!  Yes I know it is a very green thing to do, but not on narrow Cornish roads please!

So getting back to the photo's, sorry but there was no way I was going to risk life and limb getting photos of foxgloves on the roads, however pretty they are.

There is another downside to the drive, especially at this time of year.  All the creatures that die on the roads during spring when they are so focused on finding a mate they don't take as much care as they would usually.  Then there are the young who are not as experienced getting across roads, to their cost.  Seeing the badgers, rabbits, birds and sometimes foxes lying by the road really upsets me.

I want to end on a happy note, so here is a photo of the first flower on my Hypericum.  It will be stunning when they all flower.  A little ray of sunshine.