A Saturday Stroll

Come with me on a little wander in the woods

I’ve been out on a little Saturday stroll this morning and thought I’d share some of what I saw with you.

I saw deer leaping, joyfully. I love the way they play when they’re together, that frolicking sense of fun. They’re just like big, giddy dogs with show off white arses, aren’t they? Always that ‘between two worlds’ quality about them as though they are about to prance ‘off set’.

It’s interesting to me that (rein)deer were chosen as the animals to fly into the sky and pull a sleigh, because they really do look as though they straddle the real and the mystical.

You can see some deer if you look closely at this photo.

Further up the hill, I saw a sturdy lady emerge from a jaded farmhouse the colour of faded postage stamps, to greet her chickens with a hearty “good morning my girls!” A young child about five followed her outside into the yard, scooping up the plumpest hen she could wrap her chubby little arms around. It was a beautiful scene of rose cheeks, clumsy clutches and ruffling copper feathers. I adore the sound of the fluttering wings of a large bird. It’s comforting to me, like a rippling thud, and of course there was the weak protest of a cluck, soon overcome as each basked in the body heat of the other on this chilly day

The river was flowing and I enjoyed its rush as it smoothed stones and found its way.

I came across a frozen pond and contemplated its surface.

Whilst the deep freezes of winter solidify and become glistening opaque; like frosted glass in appearance, the first icings over, wrinkle shyly like an uncertain skin on hot chocolate.

And then before my eyes, I spotted the sweetest little yurt with clothes hung outside it. It was such a funny sight to see in the frost. I wonder how stiff those clothes must be!

And this sign really made me laugh. I mean what is that about?

On the way back to the bus stop, I stopped to speak to a pig, admired his bristly skin, spots and his friendliness -although I didn’t dare test my luck by stroking him

As I passed through a group of towering whispering evergreens, I was reminded of the mint sauce my grandma used to make with lamb when I was a child - something about the very dark colour and dense leafyness. Even the scent of the trees was veering towards mint, I think a that crisp day does that.

But the most beautiful thing today was most definitely the light. Sometimes, it’s truly golden. The sun seems not to shine upon the earth but from within it, illuminating it from the inside like the glow of a candle, the world becoming showcased as if a stained glass lantern.

I hope these pictures and words inspire you to get yourself out to enjoy the nature by you this weekend.

It’s free and it’s ours for the taking.

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