There’s such a comfortable warmth settling around the trees; a gentle heat, a perfect temperature for light summer clothes. Discarding heavy coats brings a dizzy freedom. Throughout the wood, all things alive are exhilarating in the weather. Sun bursts into clearings, flicking sparks off slow moving leaves, mottling the floor with flecks of gold. Speckled wood butterflies twist together in spiral dances through the columns of light; peacocks and green veined whites flit fairy-like between the trees. Grasses, growing in sparse, high tufts, flower profusely – some bear frothy seed heads, some pointed lanterns, others wave plumy fronds; pollen floats down in slow lazy clouds from any disturbed stem. The ground is still wet from the rain, a hot, green smell hangs in the humid air.
Above, a breeze ruffles the leaves and there is the buzzing hum of insects. It is very still; sound carries. Beyond the wood, sheep bleat in the fields, the odd aeroplane drones overhead, waders call from the estuary. The woodland floor is a riot of green; between the grass grow ferns, tiny saplings, barren strawberry, violets and ivy. Spiders, woodlice, beetles and other insects move over this lushness, busy in the energy giving temperatures. Birds are feeding quietly, a deer trots in and out of sight, passing behind trunks in the distance, a frog peeps from its saturated hollow. A feeling of contentment pervades. The wood embraces a rare summer day of peace.
Trees of Sanctuary 