The Days Of The Leaves.

I hadn’t been out for a walk since our visit to Stourhead about five weeks ago, so yesterday afternoon I made the supreme effort to get out in the fresh air and go for a walk up to the White Horse. It was quite a cold day, but because it was uphill all the way by the time I got to the top of Newtown I was nicely warmed up. In a field near Beggars Knoll I came across a dark horse silhouetted against the autumn sky and the trees. This was a good photo opportunity. I tried calling him over for a close up, but he didn’t want to know. I took a couple of pics anyway and carried on along the lane. The trees looked magnificent in all their golden autumn colours. 

I didn’t appreciate autumn at one time because I thought it was a harbinger of winter, short dark days and months of cold. It used to give me an underlying feeling of melancholy, but ever since I have read books like The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle my attitude seems to have changed. I am learning to live in the present moment and not think about what the future has in store. With this state of presence you can enjoy the beauty of nature in all its glory because now is the only time that exists. When winter does arrive I am sure it will have charms of its own if you have the right attitude. I took a few photos of the trees as I walked along. Even the ground beneath the trees looked wonderful, carpeted in various shades of red and yellow leaves. Eventually I left the lane and walked across the fields towards the famous White Horse. It is more like an old grey mare these days. It always looks better from a distance than too close up, so I took a photo when it appeared through two bare trees. 

As I got closer there was one solitary blackbird sitting on top of a tree which looked wonderful, but sadly when I reached for my camera, it flew off. I sat on a bench and observed the panorama down below with Westbury away to the left. It was very peaceful with just the occasional distant rat a tat tat of gunfire from the army firing range on Salisbury Plain to disturb the tranquility. Eventually, my reverie was interrupted when I noticed the sky turning darker and a rainy mist spreading along the fields below until I could feel it on my face. I thought I better be heading home and set off back down the hill. I did feel quite pleased with myself for shaking off the slough of inaction, getting some exercise and being at one with nature.