I am away at the moment and wasn’t going to post this week. However, I wanted to share a little taster of where I am and a hint towards future posts over the next few weeks. So check out the short video below.
Tag Archives: peace
My Walk this Week 244 – Old Quarry
My walk this week took me to an old quarry which looks quite different now to what it did when I first saw it about 36 years ago. What was once mostly water has filled out with a thick array of different trees and shrubs.
The way up there was muddy and the river was flowing fast with all the recent rain. The quarry water, however, was still and quiet and I enjoyed the peaceful reflections of the plants that now almost completely hide the rock face of the quarry walls.
I was reminded by the blackened stones of a camp fire of my youth and the enjoyable times I had with friends in just such wild places as this in Northern Ireland. However, we never left the mess of cans and plastic bottles that are to be found in this place. I have managed to avoid them in my photographs but I am sorry to say that the thoughtlessness of those enjoying themselves round the camp fire here today, was very clearly in evidence.
Somehow, we need to change the misconception by some that there is no connection between us and our environment (natural or man-made). Our interconnections with it are everywhere all the time – we affect it and it affects us. There now, I have said my piece as concisely as I can. I do not want to be political on this blog in any way but this is partly what StillWalks® is about – perception, appreciation and understanding of the world around us.
My Walk this Week 159 – Botanical Beauty
My walk this week looks and listens to some botanical beauty in Swansea’s Singleton Park. It is late Spring and new arrangements have been made in the formal garden and the colours abound in the less formal areas.
Swansea Botanic Gardens
The hot-house is exotic with the blooming of enormous bright flowers and the sound of running water accompanies the humidity in one section while fading away in the cactus house. The twisting paths both inside and out give a sense of exploration and discovery as you round a corner or enter a “tunnel” and find another colourful viewpoint or vista.
Swansea Botanic Soundscape
Sitting in the peacefulness of the arranged beds, listening to the birds and the gentle hoeing of the gardeners, Continue reading
My Walk this Week 141 – Exploring Down from The Mawr
On my walk this week I went exploring a footpath I have passed on top of The Mawr on many occasions but never stopped for a closer look – until now.
Looking across to the Gower Peninsula in the distance, I stood and enjoyed the wind as it gently swirled around me and brought the sound of skylarks to my ears. Setting off down an old moss covered farm track, it wasn’t longContinue reading
Woodland Frost and Interior Moss
We’re past the Winter Solstice now and almost at the end of the year. The days are getting longer (not that you would notice it much yet) but the frost is still here and the ground underfoot is crisp. The warming blanket of moss is also still there and green in the sheltered interior of the forest at least.
Earlier this year I explored an old disused and overgrown path through the middle of the woods – it connects two other paths with which I am already familiar. After battling my way through the bramblesContinue reading
In the Pink and Green
Summer walks in the woods reveal the pink flowers and the green grass in sunlight.
While there is plenty of shade under the trees – indeed the forest is often darker than usual because of the density to foliage – there are also pockets or glades of sunlight picking out the Continue reading
Climbing into Forest Stillness in November
It’s a steep path into the forest from the road but during a murky November when the days are getting very short the stillness that can be found there when the wind isn’t blowing is a real treat. Don’t get me wrong, I like the sound of the wind, but I also like the quiet peacefulness amongst the trees of this small forest when the sound of the motorway to the west is not carried over the hill. Even in the upper, thinner parts of this woodland, in amongst the spiky gorse, the air can be still and the sound of the conversing birds carries through the trees.
Ending with a Cloudy Sunset – Reviewing the Walk
My walk this week ends with another cloudy sunset. We were mostly lucky with the weather on our Autumn holiday in Scotland. Of course I took many more pictures than I have shown here this week but these are a selection of the most enjoyable ones for our surroundings during that time.
