Two mornings in a row now we`ve gone out before lunch to avoid rain which duly arrives. Wet underfoot, quite muddy in places, the ground churned up by horse hooves though we haven`t seen the riders that use these woods for a while. The sky is busy, cold easterly wind making the gates sing, swirling the clouds round, shaking the trees and sending the last few leaves twisting and spiralling to the ground.
Back indoors feeling weather beaten but a bit smug as the wind gets stronger and the rain begins to hammer on the windows.
Enjoyable enough but with none of the magic of Tuesday`s walk when we set off later in the afternoon and ended up coming home in the gloaming: quite still, very cold and getting colder by the minute, the first stars appearing as well as lights in the distance.
Just as we reached the road on the way back, two owls - possibly Tawny Owls? - shot out from the woods and swooped over our heads before flying away - presumably on their nocturnal hunt. Meanwhile a few geese, silhouetted against the last of the daylight, circled over an adjacent field looking for somewhere to rest for the night and a bevy of pheasants lifted up, squawking and cackling at us as we walked past. This and several flashes of lightning mysteriously lighting up a small layer of cloud over a nearby hill. No thunder, just lightning. Strange, a bit of winter mystique. Perfect for walking and for a minute was tempted to keep going. But a warm fire and a cup of tea won in the end - well, it was properly dark by then.
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