A Magical Morning of Rainbows & Owls
October 2021
When Nature Gives You a Warm Embrace
I had such a magical morning this morning whilst I was out on my walk I couldn’t not write about it. I talk very openly about the mental health benefits of getting out for a walk each day and how nature has a way of soothing the soul. It has such a calming affect on me and this morning mother nature but on a magnificent spectacle for me. One of those mornings that I will never forget.
A couple of ewes out on the moors
I love October as it is the month the ewes get to roam free out on the moors, where they are pretty much left to their own devices. A bit of time to themselves. Don’t get me wrong the farmer does go out every day to check up on them to make sure they are ok but in the main, they have free access to roam where they like.
Another reason I love October are the hues out on the moors. The muted tones. The brackens and ferns start to die off and have a rustic orange colour to them, inter mingled with the green grasses. The mist rolling in down the valleys from the tops of the moors.
The 1st of October was a beautiful morning. It was still dark when I set off and I could hear an owl in the distance. There is something quite magical about hearing the call of an owl. I could pretty much hear it throughout the first half of my walk up to the top of Stanbury.
As I was walking along the road passed the res a Heron flew straight over my head. If I’d have put my arm out I reckon I would have touched him. It startled me at first, came out of nowhere. He changed course slightly then settled down the side of the reservoir where he sits every morning basking in the early morning sun.
Walking up towards the moors I spotted something white out of the corner of my eye. Around the corner and flying straight towards me, almost head height, looking straight into my eyes. What an absolute sight to behold and moment to treasure. The owl that I had heard earlier.
I hadn’t bothered too much with getting up top for sunrise as there was a low bank of cloud on the horizon.
Then as I’m sat on a rock having my breakfast and a coffee the rising sun shows herself in a break in the clouds. She was large and deep red. There are no words or photographs in the world that could ever describe how stunningly beautiful the sunrise was this morning.
Just as I’m about to get up to go I could hear some geese in the distance. I heard them before I saw them. There is something about a flock of geese flying overhead that stirs an emotion in me it makes me cry. And then there they were. Must have been at least 50 of them possibly more. Came in over the top of the moors straight over my head.
And I sat there in tears at the sheer wonder of it all. Feeling so glad to be alive. So happy to be in the moment. Sitting surrounded by the natural world really does ground you and make you realise how fleeting our time on earth is.
It has recently been the 5th anniversary of my Mums passing and I was thinking about her on my way back to the car. Wishing she was walking beside me, naming all the trees and flowers and birds that we passed. Something that I used to flippantly dismiss as a teenager. I was feeling remorseful.
A voice in my head told me to turn around and look back at the moors. And there it was. A rainbow so bright and so close to me I could almost touch it. Arching across the moon.
I laughed. I couldn’t help but think Mum had orchestrated the whole morning.
