I don’t on principle use Amazon, there is always a more direct online buying option. In any case, I try to buy local and support the shops in the village. So, you’ve guessed it I don’t have a Prime account. There will be a fair number of people in the Ribble Valley today cursing their Prime membership, their eagerly awaited parcels are stuck in the back of a van that is stuck on a bridleway not far from here.
I came out for a little exercise, to admire the autumn colours and do some fungal exploring. It’s that time of year, Prime Time.
The leaves are turning golden and falling fast at the same time. They are falling all around me like snow every time the wind blows. The stream is more lively than usual after some heavy rain in recent days. Excited children are playing poo sticks from the bridge, it is half-term for many. You may recognise where I am.
Most of the fungi I find are on dead wood, there are so many trees down from those frequent storms we are experiencing. A good find is a clump of ‘Jelly Ears’, its previous name now not acceptable, growing on a fallen beech. Auricularia auricula-judae has a soft, jelly-like texture. Though edible, it is not held in high culinary regard. It has been likened to “eating an Indian rubber” Though I read that it can be dried to give added flavour to stews. I leave it where I found it.
Wandering back along that bridleway I hear raised voices ahead, not the children I saw before. No there is some loud cursing going on. There, stuck half on and half off the narrowing track is a delivery van. Once alongside, I see that it is an Amazon Van, the blue type with ‘Prime’ blazoned down the side. It is a mystery as to how he progressed this far. Sat nav surely can’t be fully blamed, a hint of human error becomes apparent when the driver asks me “Can I get out if I drive on?” A resounding NO.
Another van appears at the end of the lane, no doubt sent Prime delivery from Amazon. The circus begins after some damming words between the colleagues. A tow line is set up and van number two starts pulling, only for the stricken van to slide further off the narrow track into the vegetation. More cursing ensues. The next try, I’m not sure that the two protagonists are on the same wavelength, only results in the ‘Prime’ van taking a decided lean to the port side. Now it is balanced on two wheels and in imminent danger of rolling down the hillside. My suggestion that they should remove the parcels before it is too late doesn’t go down too well. There is urgent talk on mobiles to the head office of tractors, cranes and winches. 
Time to retire, it will be dark in an hour.
My curiosity is such that I am considering another nature walk along here tomorrow morning, purely for fungal research interests.
Some nice nature photos here BC, I particularly like the first one. You have to wonder at the stupidity of drivers who blindly follow a satnav when it must be blatantly obvious that the route isn’t suitable – I think I would have stayed to see the outcome of the dilemma. I don’t use Amazon either, (a) because I can usually get whatever I want cheaper from elsewhere and (b) because their excess packaging is appallingly wasteful – I know that from where I work.
Thanks, Eunice.
I wouldn’t have taken my bike down there, never mind a heavily laden delivery van. It would probably need a crane to extricate the vehicle.
Amazon. Plus, they don’t pay their workers a decent wage or realistic taxes in Britain
I want to say Mill Wood at Hurst Green, but I’m probably a mile off. Those delivery guys are under such pressure, but you’re right, some prime customers will be getting upset right now.
Bang on there. Michael.
It’s one of my favourites, and at this time of year, spectacular.
The poor driver was genuinely distressed. I suspect he will be out of a job today.
The van was on the edge of a steep drop down to Dean Brook.
I claim my prize. 👍🙂
A free pint in the Bayley Arms, on me.
I like the photo of the mushrooms. I used to go every autumn with my dad in the forest to look for ceps. I never liked them but I liked been outside.
I am the same I try to not use Amazon
Don’t find many ceps around here.
Always best to shop independantly if you can.
I avoid Amazon as much as possible, but the decline of the high street is such that sometimes it’s hard to get something without having to resort to the Evil Empire. Lots of alternatives for books, fortunately, though.
Have just found this comment in my emails for some reason. Resubmitting it to WP.
We are lucky to have a half-decent collection of local shops in the village: butchers, bakers, electricians, a cobbler, computers and phones, etc. So, I never seem to have to shop in Preston, a fairly depressing business. And of course, as you say, there are other better outlets for books; ABE and Blackwells are my favourites.
You’re lucky. The high street is being killed in some many towns by online shopping but also the out of town “malls” and precincts. That’s what’s happened here and in Bolton. So different in Melbourne.