One morning—one hour.
Come, walk with me a while, let me take you somewhere wonderful…
This wasn’t my intended post today but I took myself away from all that is usual for an hour.
On a crisp November morning, I walked out into wild; beautifully misty, irresistibly glorious wild and I wanted to share with you,
a morning that was too perfectly wonderful to keep to myself.
So I thought I’d take you with me…
Imagine…
You are wrapped in fleecy everything.
As you walk out of the door your breathe leaves your body in a trillion droplets.
You watch them dissolve in crisp pre-dawn air.
It is -5 centigrade, cold for this day in November but how gloriously, it beckons…
The half light of the dawn landscape draws you in despite the temperature.
Silence is absolute, the rest of the world still sleeps.
Only the gentle swishing of leaves as they finally give up hold on their stays, drifting invisibly in the gloaming to the earth below offer faint but unmistakable sound.
And, where the leaves fall, the tinkling of frosty sparkles as they gleam and flash in fading moonlight.
Tiny earth stars; terrestrial beacons in indigo light beginning it’s trade, without hesitation, of night colour for mornings translucent veil.
You are walking with the shadowy ghosts of the crepuscule…
You tread the path of thousands of others before you, up under now bare branches of wild cherry.
Ascending to the highest point, you arrive, breathless as an explosion of tangerine escapes the clutches of silhouettes.
You are breathing, deep breaths, taking steps into the nascence of a new day, and, ahead in Elysian light, slowly, in time with your movement, the emptiness fills with myriad layers of morning….
You stop, your eyes are glistening from exertion and emotion overwhelms you, you bathe, arms outstretched to welcome the glow, bedazzling and iridescent.
It reaches far, over all ancient hills and trees.
And you whisper,
Good morning beautiful world, good morning….
Light on this late autumn morning holds you firmly but oh, so gently in its new magic.
Ethereal
Ephemeral
Transient…
It carries you in wondrous wisps, hand in hand, mist rolling faster now, over hill and meadow, alights on branches of trees where moss and lichen gather and flourish.
Then gliding, phantom like to the next and the next…
A deer crosses your path ahead, two more follow, oblivious of your presence, frost and ice disturbed.
As you reach the place where cloven feet dissolve into wilderness, prisms of light burst and cascade into the now sunlit air.
You pause, (breathe in… breathe out…)
Stand transfixed and envelopped by the sheer joy of nature and her fleeting magic.
The sun climbs higher, bird song, distant but sweet, begins.
You continue, faster now, afraid to miss a moment of such tenaciously, radiant beauty.
You descend into woodland, into wild, where briar and thorn are in constant combat, mysterious and dark.
Sunlight fades into mist once again.
Silence is loud in places like these and your footfall echoes within, returning, muffled, mingling with those footfalls of small creatures unseen.
As you reach beech trees light returns, sunlight piercing the canopies of leaves now thinly stretched between sky and earth.
Another, different veil…
Through which you watch the last ghosts of morning depart in final wisps of softest grey.
The day begins.
You pause one final time, bid them farewell and return, treading paths now glistening with dissipating frost.
You are cradled in the arms of the spirit of the hill on a November morning, ready to begin normal but feeling lighter, recharged by the beauty and magical newness of the day.
A sigh of contentment escapes….
Happy Monday with love
If you love walking in wild please don’t miss
The Wild Forgotten… and her invite to The Wild Gathering she will be waiting to greet you with her own magic from the other side of my corner of this beautiful world.
Did you enjoy walking with me? Please consider subscribing for free or becoming a paid subscriber to support my wanderings and wonderings. Or maybe just buy me a hot mug of tea? I would love to share one with you.
My next letter will be Colours of the month, if you’ve missed previous months you can find them here.
So beautiful. Both your words and photos.
I think the unintended posts are the best. They just come straight from the heart and soul with none of the thinking planning mind disrupting things.
Thank you for sharing your walk. I felt like I was there. Jo 💜
This was beautiful!