The World in a Bubble underneath a Coot’s Bottom

by Jason

For this short piece I want you to imagine the theme tune from ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, that weekly tv series that ran during the 60’s and 70’s and was very much about what it says in the name. For the full effect, click the link and let the music play as you read on!

So, back to this modern day and I’m wandering along a lake shore, well actually a lodge that used to serve an old factory on the western flank of Chorley. For those of you who are local it’s now called Yarrow Valley Country Park, presumably its old name of Birkacre wasn’t cool enough and needed some spinning.

Engaged in yet another fruitless attempt to photograph the mighty kingfisher I was distracted by a coot resting low down by the lodge wall, just beneath my feet. Coot are quite cool birds and according to a Native American tradition they rebuilt the earth from pond mud after the great floods had subsided. Kudos to Coot energy.

Despite not being kingfisher glamorous we have lots to thank them for. And they can be engaging as they war and fight like Ragnor the Viking, or his ex, defending their territory from all comers, large or small, real or imagined.

But this one had laid an egg. Or so it looked. Of course it wasn’t an egg that sat under its sooty rear, floating on the water all sparkly and transparent. Not unlike an escaped mirrorball from the said 70’s, the bubble reflected the world around it for the few moments that I was able to journey through its impermeable skin.

I thought there was something odd about that bubble! And then it popped, but I got my shot.

Pressing on I searched for the fisher king in vain, hoping to see the gaudy assault of colour tearing through the still air that accompanied the ducks to bed. Nothing doing. So I photographed wagtail, daffodil, wood anemone and of course duck.

Getting home I uploaded the shots to my Mac and immediately went to the Bubble underneath a Coot’s Bottom sequence. I have a real affinity for reflections in nature, they often hold secret tales, unseen worlds and can lead me down top quality rabbit holes of imagination. (Wait ’til you see what I see reflected in the microscopic dewdrops held by the sensual parts of mosses!)

I was not to be disappointed with The World in the Bubble underneath a Coot’s Bottom!

Firstly it’s the kind of selfie I like. Can you see me peering down?

Looking deeper though, where on earth did that little lemur guy bottom right come from! And what is that zig-zaggy white thing near the middle? Not to mention the tiny white water dragon!

Did I see a window into the other realms? Was I gifted a port key to another reality? Are the beings in there looking back at me through their ‘round window’ and saying much the same to their pals?

This all begs one question… where did they go when the bubble popped!