Sunrise warms the winter oaks as the moon drifts down behind them
I am always cheered as we pass the winter solstice and know that the days will lengthen from now on. These trees are visible from my morning chair, over the top of our well and across three gardens. They face east and so always catch the morning sun, changing their faces from a dark silhouette, through spreading limbs of fiery red and gold as the sun rises, to finally become grey lichen decorated trees. They are big, the one you can see here has a brother to the right, just on the edge of the image. They are also protected trees, for which I am very glad, as they are quite close to a 1908's block of flats and run the risk of being unpopular with the residents. They are of course, the home of woodpeckers, green and greater spotted, tree creepers, tail flicking crows and chatty jackdaws at morning and evening and, as night falls, the source of tawny owl calls, male and female, chatting away through the the evening's gloaming.
I have to admit that I've not really caught up with the solstice yet. Thank you for reminding me that the days are beginning to lengthen!
ReplyDeleteI had several friends in the past of pagan persuasion so have been conscious of the passing festivals for many years. I like that sense of watching the earth's passage round the sun and thinking about how long we humans have been measuring and celebrating the turning of the seasons. Of course the summer solstice tells us that the days will be getting shorter, but that is compensated for by the knowledge that they will be warmer still for a while, as the the earth responds to the longer days that have been :-)
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