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Tuning in...

saxonaxe

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I've always found that it takes me probably about twenty minutes to half an hour after entering the woods to really tune in to my surroundings. After that time I see, hear and notice more and one of my favourite things is to just sit still and silent and just watch the wood around me.

I was doing just that today when I noticed the 'tree roots' exposed on the path close by. There are many such roots worn by the weather, time and the footsteps of travellers along the path...and then I realised that not all were roots...

DSCF6325.jpg


A couple of the 'Roots' were in fact an old steel wire cable buried in the soil. This wood has not been worked commercially since 1964...56 years the cable has laid in the soil and I doubt that few passersby have noticed it is not one of the many tree roots showing in the soil..

It intrigues me how growing things fight and adapt to survive in Nature too. Something else I noticed from my secluded perch.....:D
The tall thin tree just left of centre in the photo is in fact an Oak, in amongst the tall dark conifers. It has had to fight to get to the sunlight
blocked by the dense evergreen canopy above it.
DSCF6335.jpg


It is a Durmast or Sessile Oak, a tree that grows well in the acid soil here, but it has had to shoot up to about 30 feet before it could find sunlight and form large branches..
DSCF6333.jpg


Right! Enough of sitting on a log like an elderly Elf swigging tea from a flask...:lol:
On the lake Mr and mrs Moor Hen provide amusement dashing about on the Lilly Pads. If they stop moving the Lilly Pad slowly sinks and they have to go into swimming mode!
DSCF6322.jpg


It's flowering time for this delicate little wild plant of the Nightshade family, it's known as Enchanters Nightshade. ( Circaea lutetiana ) It's named after Circa who legend tells enchanted the ancient Greek Author Homer, by making a spell with the roots of this plant.
It is the only British wild flower having just two petals. It may look insignificant but the tiny white two petal flowers are beautiful on close inspection.
DSCF6338.jpg

DSCF6323.jpg


On the way home I passed a big Sweet Chestnut Tree which for some reason had lost or shed the bark from it's main trunk, although fresh shoots grew from the trunk in places.
DSCF6326.jpg

I would guess that if felled and cut correctly the result would be some beautifully grained and figured burled wood.
DSCF6327.jpg


Very warm and humid in the wood today and with the threat of Thunder in the air and more importantly tea supplies running dangerously low, I retreated homeward...:lol:
 

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Sounds weird but a good activity I do with the youngsters I teach is to blindfold them and get them to listen for 5 minutes; the theory being by removing sight you “open up” your ears and start hearing sounds you wouldn’t usually notice. You could just sit still with your eyes closed or go full latex hood, it’s up to you!

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That is a really good a lesson for them, I bet they enjoy doing that. :thumbsup: I noticed today that the occasional leaf has started to fall. The Field Maples were the main culprits, possibly the heat, but the dried up individual leaves are quite noisey in the silent woods, fluttering down through the surrounding canopy.
 
Its
I've always found that it takes me probably about twenty minutes to half an hour after entering the woods to really tune in to my surroundings. After that time I see, hear and notice more and one of my favourite things is to just sit still and silent and just watch the wood around me.

I was doing just that today when I noticed the 'tree roots' exposed on the path close by. There are many such roots worn by the weather, time and the footsteps of travellers along the path...and then I realised that not all were roots...

DSCF6325.jpg


A couple of the 'Roots' were in fact an old steel wire cable buried in the soil. This wood has not been worked commercially since 1964...56 years the cable has laid in the soil and I doubt that few passersby have noticed it is not one of the many tree roots showing in the soil..

It intrigues me how growing things fight and adapt to survive in Nature too. Something else I noticed from my secluded perch.....:D
The tall thin tree just left of centre in the photo is in fact an Oak, in amongst the tall dark conifers. It has had to fight to get to the sunlight
blocked by the dense evergreen canopy above it.
DSCF6335.jpg


It is a Durmast or Sessile Oak, a tree that grows well in the acid soil here, but it has had to shoot up to about 30 feet before it could find sunlight and form large branches..
DSCF6333.jpg


Right! Enough of sitting on a log like an elderly Elf swigging tea from a flask...:lol:
On the lake Mr and mrs Moor Hen provide amusement dashing about on the Lilly Pads. If they stop moving the Lilly Pad slowly sinks and they have to go into swimming mode!
DSCF6322.jpg


It's flowering time for this delicate little wild plant of the Nightshade family, it's known as Enchanters Nightshade. ( Circaea lutetiana ) It's named after Circa who legend tells enchanted the ancient Greek Author Homer, by making a spell with the roots of this plant.
It is the only British wild flower having just two petals. It may look insignificant but the tiny white two petal flowers are beautiful on close inspection.
DSCF6338.jpg

DSCF6323.jpg


On the way home I passed a big Sweet Chestnut Tree which for some reason had lost or shed the bark from it's main trunk, although fresh shoots grew from the trunk in places.
DSCF6326.jpg

I would guess that if felled and cut correctly the result would be some beautifully grained and figured burled wood.
DSCF6327.jpg


Very warm and humid in the wood today and with the threat of Thunder in the air and more importantly tea supplies running dangerously low, I retreated homeward...:lol:
Its places and descriptions like that that inspire me to sit in suck places and write poetry
 

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Its places and descriptions like that that inspire me to sit in suck places and write poetry

think what you could do if you didn't sit in places that suck! :D
(i know, just a typo, but i couldn't resist ;) )

I've always found that it takes me probably about twenty minutes to half an hour after entering the woods to really tune in to my surroundings.

i have very much the same experience, though i find i need to be sitting or just still somewhere for the peace of the woods to soak in. that has it's own rewards in that a deer might approach and not know you're there, or the robins will come in and check you out, wondering what you're up to (curious little fellows!). being still in the woods is never time wasted.
 
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