Simon Zonenblick - Writing and more

  I wasn’t expecting to like DC. The best I’d imagined was that it would be dull – I’d been told to expect a rather uneventful city without a buzz, inhabited almost entirely by state administrators – while the worst was that in the late days of the most turbulent Presidential election of modern times, the atmosphere would be somewhat, well … turbulent.  I could not have been more wrong.    Washington DC is a splendid city.   Its people are friendly and unthreatening, its transport system is simple, clean and inexpensive. I love its tree lined avenues, dripping in autumnal colour, and reminding me of the suburbs of my own home town. I love its tall 19 th Century terraces, its quiet wine bars and its restaurants – all of which look well above my price range but add an ambience to the city streets at night that makes it feel gently hip and relaxed. I love the historic monuments, the magnificent museums, and the cleanliness of the sidewalks, the languid bends of it...

  My first sight of the Capitol Building – which I take at first glance for the White House - comes through the glass wall of a corridor at Ronald Reagan airport, a far-off conical dome which at this angle looks slightly tilted, like an elaborate teapot sculpted out of chalk.  It is stunningly beautiful. Built by a variety of architects over a period of around three decades, it is a triumph of the Neo-classical, in its way as iconic as the Presidential home its self. Its presence as an emblem of Democracy has taken on a new poignancy since January the 6th, 2021, whose shameful events require no retelling here. I watched the previous US Presidential election from my kitchen in Calderdale, England. I will watch this one in the United States its self - and while my visit to the country was prompted by a variety of personal motivations, prominent among them was the desire to undertake it at this moment in its history - "an immensely consequential moment", as the veteran US politi...

Sunset in Downtown Detroit. Traffic lights blur into soft dots of red. Wind wraps its self around the spire of the Methodist church, all but whistles down Michigan Avenue. The stocky office blocks and chunky, muscular buildings of the USA's North East were built to last in a climate of bitter winds and cruel cold. Almost as soon as I arrived in Detroit, even though the sun was shining, I felt the pelt of hailstones. And yet, refreshing after the sweltering heatwave of California, I like this weather. It is bracing. It gets me moving. It reminds me of home. Hands stuffed into pockets, I push down Shelby Street, shuffle down the sidewalks with no particular destination. The wind picks up. On Washington Boulevard, the street lights melt into a twilight turning purple. The Ford Building rises like a column of snow. I cross a tasteful square, pass a bunch of old men sitting on a bench playing jolly music. A huge block of apartments stands above us, and from half way up a young man gaz...

  I am coming towards the end of a three week visit to the United States, my first trip to the country at what is surely by any metric a most significant juncture in its history. These travels take me from New York to Washington DC and back, encompassing a range of other cities in between, and have prompted a large amount of writing and photography, providing me with material for a multitude of projects, far exceeding the one or two ideas I had on setting out.  These include a celebration of my Stateside nature sightings, my thoughts on American railway ("railroad"?) travel, a development of my Night Stations book idea, and a diary of the final week of the Presidential Election and how it seemed to me.   I envisage incorporating these writings into a future book of travel essays, and would like to share a few brief excerpts from them here. With a nod to the late, great British-American broadcaster Alistair Cooke and his legendary radio programme Letter From America (...

 I am thrilled to announce the forthcoming publication of my debut book of nature essays, A Year in the Calder Valley, due from Saraband next month.  The collection features pieces first published in the Halifax Courier and Sowerby Bridge's Go Local magazine, as well as many previously unpublished articles.  Full details can be found via the Saraband website: A Year in the Calder Valley - Saraband

I am delighted to announce my exhibition of 23 full colour images of Hollingworth Lake, on display now at Smithy Bridge Library, Rochdale.   All photos are for sale at £10 each, and some will also feature in my forthcoming Hollingworth Lake 2024 calendars and greeting cards, which will also be available from the library and elsewhere.

 I am delighted to announce the return of my Wildlife Watch nature column to the Halifax Courier, for a new monthly series that will run for approximately one year. The first installment of my new essays appeared this month, featuring the recent snowfall in the valley. I have added below my reading of the full transcript of the piece.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tsrbJ01sWk