Autumn Takes Hold

It was still dark as I entered the Pinewoods this morning, not quite bible black as Dylan Thomas would say.  The sun was struggling to rise, calm, peaceful, not cold, and not even a light breeze.  The only sound to be heard was the crunching and rustling as I shuffled through the fallen leaves.  A burnt orange shabby carpet covered the ground.  Autumn leaves of gold, brown and deep crimson red adorned the trees waiting patiently for their turn to fall, while our firs clung tightly to their evergreen coats.  

Too early for my forest fiends to stir and no bird song to herald my arrival.  As I continued my morning ritual of ambling along a well-trodden path, I saw something I had not noticed before.  I watched all the beautiful autumn colours changing in front of my very eyes and then I witnessed the forest ferns following suit and changing to a deep rusty brown as if preparing for their turn to take their winter rest.  Everyday there is something new in the Pinewoods, if you take the time to sit a while, rest and look around.  If you are very lucky you will feel the woodland wash over you.  The different smells from the heady, pungent pine from warmer weather to the deep earthy woody damp scent of autumn.  My breathing slowed, my senses heightened, this was my time in my Kurwald… WW