It’s no secret I find a great peace in nature and particularly the forest; add to this the silence that a sunrise brings, the intrigue of the new dawn and mentally I’m well prepared to start the day. I found such a peace at the start of this week.
It’s too late for sunrise, (steady on, I need to psyche myself up to rise that early) but as I go to make coffee, I can see a massive expanse of cloud through the trees, wisping and curling through the trees. I’m drawn to explore and see more…
A bit of scene setting… we live on a low hill, near Grantown on Spey in the Cairngorms. Our home is mostly surrounded by pine trees and mixed woodland, but from the kitchen window we can just about see rolling fields; rolling down to the River Spey and the edge of town and beyond that are hills and the ‘Haughs of Cromdale’.
I leave my coffee and wander peacefully towards the fields and source of the cloud. I choose my route so that I can ‘approach’ along a straight footpath on the edge of a pine plantation allowing me to digest the view as I grow closer; the cloud ‘invades’ through the trees I’m reminded of a scene in ‘Outlander’ before the Battle of Prestonpans and my imagination goes into overdrive!
This is a path I have grown fond of over the last year, many a sunrise I woke up for during the summer months and the light creeps through the trees in one of the most beautiful and ethereal manners I have ever witnessed. Sometimes revealing small Roe Deer, a Brown Hare, or if I’m lucky our local Clydesdale Horses who will always come over to say hello.
This morning, I just stand. I shut my eyes for a moment and listen, feeling the cool air on my skin and imaging roots stretching from the soles of my feet deep into the earth, investigating the land hidden beneath me. I try to empty all preconceptions of what the view will look like from my mind and slowly open my eyes. Drinking in the view, breathing in time with the clouds and just observing everything. My shoulders drop an inch, my head clears and I am ready to start the day.
Writing this post reminds me of a cracking little book I have called ‘The Cloud Collector’s Handbook’ by Gavin Pretour-Pinney; I like the idea of collecting clouds, makes me think of the BFG collecting dreams and I’ll end up with jam jars full of clouds… or maybe I shall just start using the handbook and ticking them off!
So next time you are out, look up and watch the clouds for a minute or two, or like me, snatch a rare early morning sunrise and watch the earth as it wakes.
“The humble Cumulus humilis - never hurt a soul.” Gavin Pretor-Pinney