First shoe of the year, and I always note the first shoe of the year, because until it comes the register is just sat there waiting and you don't like to see it idle. Set off at half seven with the frost still on everything and the car taking a minute to see reason. Parked at Marsden and walked up towards the Butterley embankment, which is a good pull first thing in January and gets the flask earned early.
The trainer were on the grass verge by the path up the embankment. Right trainer, black, size eight or thereabouts, laces still in but loose. Toe pointing at the water, which I recorded because it's a fact, not because it means owt. The frost had got into it overnight and it had a stiffness to it, the fabric standing how fabric doesn't normally stand. That's worth a note in itself. A frosted shoe photographs different to a wet one.
I photographed it four times and three came out, which for January light is a decent return and better than most Januaries have managed. Sat a while on the verge — no stool that day, the ground being frozen hard enough to serve. Flask conditions good, milk in as usual, and the tea does more for you on a frosted morning than it does the rest of the year, though I don't hold that against the rest of the year. Cheese and pickle.
One man came past with a dog. He kept his own counsel and I kept mine, which is the correct arrangement on an embankment in January. The dog gave the trainer a look and moved on, which I thought showed a professional attitude. Number 309 in the register, and the year underway.
Written up August 2026, from the notebook.