'I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out 'til sundown, for going out, I found was really going in.' John Muir

I've seen the top of Everest (from a long way off), smelled the breath of a whale (from way too close) and lived on a boat in Greece (for a few years), but I continue to experience some of my most precious moments right outside my backdoor.

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Tuesday 28 April 2015

A New Way

'One's destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.'  Henry Miller


This is a quote from my book The Slow Tourist.  Today we decided to follow the instructions on page 14 and walk along a public footpath we've never been on before.  Here is what we found...

Bluebells beginning to appear
clumps of primroses
The Spirit of the Woods


A Bluetit's bottom


Silver Birches like brushes painting the sky



A peacock butterfly enjoying dandelion nectar


A tree window


A secret bank of primroses

Blossom alive with buzzing bees


And a fine view of Moel Famau


We've lived here for over 30 years and never followed this footpath before.  We walked for three hours and didn't see another person, only birds, bees, butterflies and lambs.  We had an epic adventure - without going very far, just like it says in my book

It also says;
Get an OS map of your area, find a footpath and follow it. Take a note book and pen, draw the flowers, bees, birds - just doodle, you don't have to be an artist.  Write what you see, how you feel.  Record the sounds on your mobile phone or a simple sound recorder, make a sound scape of your patch.  Who knows, in years to come, what you record in your notebook might prove to be of real interest to someone.  You might record a species that no longer exists or one that's new for that area. Even if you live in a town, sketch the buildings, record sounds in the parks, look for wildlife like peregrines nesting on tall buildings. 

But most of all, just enjoy what's on your doorstep.  


4 comments:

Unknown said...

Great photos Sarah.

J.Gray said...

Great blog!

Sarah Lewis said...

Thanks Barry, not quite up to your standard though!

Sarah Lewis said...

Thanks Janette, enjoying yours too https://www.artbyjanettegray.com/blog/