A trip to the bluebell woods today. I am fortunate, but for H.I. this was a rare treat.
There was another couple parked up and inside when we arrived, so we respectfully waited for them to come out before we went in. When they did emerge, we had a cordial conversation about the obvious, which included the weather, and that was reassuringly British. I like the way that this crisis is making people talk to one another - a positive thing which I hope continues into the future. Do you remember 2020 and the restrictions on social interaction....?
The owner of this private wood in Wiltshire has long since given up on attempting to keep the reviled public out. Their barbed wire fence has been trampled down in one small part, so to keep the bluebells as intact as possible, they have laid down wood chips on the badger-track-like narrow and meandering little path and placed a high sign reminding us that this is private property and to keep to the delineated way, taking any rubbish with us when we leave. Such a humane and reasonable request.
So Covid has not yet prevented us from witnessing one of the most heart-lifting displays of Spring, but it has enhanced the experience with clearer birdsong and clearer air.
So very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAnd so healing.
DeleteWe had a lovely painting of a bluebell wood
ReplyDeleteFuck he took it before the divorce
H.I. has very similar complaints about her ex.
DeleteI am always entranced by the little princess, clutching bluebells to her nose.
ReplyDeleteIs that a book?
DeleteYou could humor me just this once.
Deletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8008049/Kate-Middletons-favourite-photo-revealed-Princess-Charlotte-smelling-bluebell-Norfolk.html
Sounds like a lovely wood visit.
ReplyDeleteYes. On the other side of that wood it opens out to a grand vista of the Wiltshire downs. You can see for 30 miles.
DeleteI'm glad you found it healing.
ReplyDeleteIt was good for H.I. to get out of town.
DeleteThe bluebell wood where I go to walk the dog has got the paths marked by long branches either side. Also, the owners " Youth with a Mission", ( an American religious set up)have set out a one way path around the woods so that people don't have to cross on the narrow paths. I have been twice this week. It is very peaceful, even more so now that the nearby ( 4 miles ish) Luton airport isn't in action! Not so many trains on the line along the bottom of the woods either.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great without all the traffic.
DeleteI’m sure that it lifted both your spirits .... much needed in these times. The weather has been helpful as well although that is going to change next week so then it will be time to find things to do indoors. Hope you are both doing OK. XXXX
ReplyDeleteYes, we're fine thanks Jack@. Books to read, films to watch, kitchens to decorate...
DeleteMy thought entirely - bluebells - probably of all the spring flowers the best harbinger of Summer to come.
ReplyDeleteIt is a real event in the calendar.
DeleteIt is noticeable that most people are much more polite and seem genuinely concerned about others.
ReplyDeleteThere are still the few who barge about, like the jogger you mentioned a while ago, and the man (in his thirties) who barged past me in the supermarket, ignoring the one-way system that was doing a great job of keeping people apart and speaking into his mobile so that he sprayed everyone he barged past with potentially lethal particles.
I despise him already.
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