Friday, July 11, 2014

Five Places: In the Green Wood

Komorebi in our summer forest
This is the fifth in my "five places" series based on the question:


If you had to describe your life in five places, which sites would you choose and why?

When we bought our current home, I considered the nearby forest to be a bonus, but not a really significant one. I had no idea how important it would come to be for me, especially after we adopted Kane. It is my escape, a quiet sanctuary.

I love how the tall, tall trees make me feel small. I love the komorebi -- this is the word the Japanese have for when sunlight filters through the trees - the interplay between the light and the leaves. It makes me happy.

I love the surprises around each corner.

Silly wabbit! RUN!
And if you go slowly enough, there is always a small bit of beauty.

Wild bell flowers

Even thistles are pretty

I don't know the name of this wildflower.



Probably poisonous, but so pretty!

These had a Lady's Slipper shape to the flower.

A whole meadow of thistles!
In truth, they are free gardens -- no need to mulch or weed or trim or edge or divide or replant. They are just there for the enjoying.

Even better if there happens to be some water nearby! 

Kane enjoys a little mid-walk splash to cool down.
I've been reading a lot of L.M. Montgomery's writing lately -- Anne of Green GablesEmily of New Moon, etc. -- and have noted that Ms. Montgomery would have been quite contented if she could have earned a living (or as she likes to say, "done something worth while") simply by writing about the gardens and forests around her. 

(To be honest, I often skim those long descriptive passages, and I sense that her editors humoured her by keeping as many as they did.) 

Nevertheless, I really identify with her passion for those woodland spaces and meadows. They are magical and bring out some kind of primitive comfort for me.

What about you? Is there a place that gives you that feeling?


Other posts in the series: 

2 comments:

  1. the great outdoors definitely gives me much inspiration, solace, hope.... just Everything! whether it is the wild woods, a beautiful beach, or my own garden. My happiest moments have probably been those that are spent outside. I suspect because it makes you "step outside" your own self in some way. get out of your own head....quiet the brain noise. you know?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, exactly! Though I will say that arid places (like deserts or rocky mountaintops) don't do the same thing for me. I feel exposed, perhaps even agoraphobic.

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