Drone's eye view of my familiar patch
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire Drones make brief, veering, playful flights, revealing the familiar from fresh angles
Rough ground looks like chenille, softly tactile, from 20 metres up. A puddle blinks back whitely, a fallen fragment of sky. I can't absorb what I'm seeing fast enough. The land beneath me rolls away and the horizon pulls near, creating a sense of adventurous possibility. I'm used to trudging about the garden, hauling sacks of compost, dragging wheelbarrows over gravel; this, by contrast, feels like freedom.
Hoping for deeper knowledge of my garden, a hectare (2.47 acres) of former farmland on the Cheshire plain, I've acquired a small drone with a camera. Drones make brief, veering, playful flights, revealing the familiar from fresh angles. Mine seems more like a kite or a bird than a human with wings: it's heedless of paths, happiest in ascent, sensitive to the breeze. When it skims the ground it glides over obstacles with grace and purpose, motors no louder than a couple of bumblebees.
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