Restorative

I don’t think that any sight gladdens the heart and restores the spirit so much as unconstrained nature. More places, far more places, should be giving visitors this experience. The elements are basic and not extraordinary: eminently achievable, and I can see no reason why they should not be in combination an essential part of everyone’s life if not daily routine.  Their combination is less common but not rare, just needing the luck that comes from persistence and being prepared to deflect occasional disappointments into other less intense pleasures. When they come together we have a cocktail of delights. The seasonal changes from week to week recorded in trees and low shrubs and the colours created; the varying light qualities at different times of day but especially in mornings; land and vegetation breaking free from the shackles of exploitation and management; wild animals living out their own existence beyond human control; and the whole is a part of the world which is other to the preoccupations of human affairs and not dependent on them.

All of it needs looking at with an eye for simplicity and a wonder that such things can still be found despite the artificial distractions that obsess much of the world. But nothing can beat the surprise when the last element falls in place. 

This morning it was the heads above the bracken which could easily have been missed. Movement on the right betrayed the presence of the male. 

None wanted to be observed but all were wary. That’s as it should be. There are those not far away who would like to control them just as man himself is controlled.