Blue River

Days were passing by and the bleak November turned into the bleak december

... Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December ...

and it looked as if you'd ask the Raven will the wind blow again o'er this wretched land, the ominous bird would just quoth ... Nevermore.

But then, three weeks into December and over than a month of still, damp, dreary, windless fog covering central Slovenia, suddenly the flags on the Tower of Ljubljana castle started to flutter! Wind! Let's go! Now! Where's the gear! Move! Luckily the flat, wide open Ljubljana Marshes with its natural wonders are nearby so almost no planning is needed for a nice KAP session ... in no time we were finally in the air! It was still bleak, though ...

The eastern part of Ljubljana Marshes is dominated by river Ižica - a meandering, flood-prone, 12 km long stream that was once a prime real estate for bands of neolithic and bronze-age people building their pile-dwellings.

Most of the marsh is cut by drainage channels and turned into fields and pastures, and the rivers were straightened to ease the oufllow and reduce flooding. But Ižica was somehow spared and is still meandering majestically across the plain.

.And it's blue! It was quite a surprise, because the muddy waters of Ljubljana Marshes with its clay riverbeds, full of green algae and other micro- and macrofites are usually green - or brown when the flow is high - and opaque. But Ižica is blue for some reason (probably because of the sand it brought from its alluvial fan), clean, brimming with fish (it's a premium fishing spot) and other life.

The flight was also the first test of a new Picavet rig. Nothing fancy, no remote control, no videolink ... but the camera can be pointed in any direction while still retaining that mystery of what - if anything - will it shoot. .

Somebody once said that Blue river, it can't be found on any map that I know, yet it's right here, minutes away ... And look! The trees are swaying! The flags flutter! The wind is blowing! Pack up, lets go fly a kite! :-)

All kite aerial photos shot with Canon A810 on a Rokkaku kite.