Here we go again – national Covid lockdown for a month looming. So it was with this depressing news and the possible prospect of another four years of Trump as President, that I decided to get another visit in yesterday, so soon after the last one. I don’t see how visiting my woods would pose any risk of spreading or catching the virus but the rules say we should stay at home unless absolutely necessary. It depends what that definition consists of. Personally, visiting my woods is necessary for my mental health but the authorities might view that differently. Anyway I wanted to get a visit in before lockdown, just to play and be in the woods and forget it all for a day. To wallow and saturate myself in all that lovely woodlandy-ness.

I was awake at 5am with no extra sleep imminent, so I got ready and left home for an earlier than usual start.

I wanted to embrace the raw experience of being there and making it my safe, natural home for the day. What can be more empowering and warming to the body and (more importantly) soul, than lighting a fire? Collecting your fuel, adding the magic of a tiny flame and seeing it grow. The sound of the crackle and the smell of woodsmoke never fails to please. It’s elemental and resonates with our ancient hunter-gatherer instincts. It offers safety and comfort from the harshness of the world and isn’t that just what we all need right now? Add to that a black, smokey kettle and the promise of a warming brew while watching the little birds on the feeders and who can fail to feel better.

Eventually I decided to do a few easy jobs. Load up with logs to take home for the woodburner and split a green sycamore log that I recently felled, to take home for use on my pole lathe. I cleaned out some of the many leaves that had filled my pond. I love this photo of the sky and overhead trees reflected on the water.

Lunch was a veggie burger and fried egg cooked on the fire, then it was time to do some metal detecting. It doesn’t take long before something registers and time to get digging. There’s a little flutter of excitement wondering what it will be. I know the likelihood is it will either be a spent 12 bore cartridge, a screw or nail, a piece of wire etc and not a six hundred year old hammered coin or gold ring. Nevertheless there’s always a possibility and there’s often something a bit odd. Here are my finds. The big bar had me puzzled as I tried to pinpoint it before digging. No wonder, it’s about fifteen inches long!

I spent a good part of my day just looking and being in the moment and it really did the trick of easing my anxiety. I’ll leave you with a few more photos of the remaining Autumn colours. Next visit it will probably have gone. Take care.