Thursday 15 October 2009

A Walk in the Woods


from North Wind in October

In the golden glade the chestnuts are fallen all;
From the sered boughs of the oaks the acorns fall;
The beech scatters her ruddy fire;
The lime has stripped to the cold,
And standeth naked above her yellow attire;
The larch thinneth her spire
To lay the ways of the wood with cloth of gold.

Out of the golden green and white
of the brake the fir trees stand upright
In the forest of flame, and wave aloft
To the blue of heaven their blue-green tuftings soft.

Robert Bridges (1844-1930)




A walk in the woods
on a sunny day in mid-October


There is a bench hidden in the woods
by the side of the pond.
Despite the sunshine there is a chill in the air.
It's better if we move on; walking will warm us up.



We'll follow the small brook which feeds the pond.
On the other side of the path are these wonderful, mossy tree trunks
going up the hill.


We'll stay on the leaf-strewn path, although Benno
would be very happy to follow his nose uphill.



The sunlight creates pretty patterns,
the woods are thinning out.


We're getting back into pasture land;
there's a bank of manure lying by the hedge.


And here we are back in the open fields.
The winter wheat is coming along nicely.



The photos can be enlarged.

22 comments:

  1. Your neck of the woods looks so much like ours Friko!

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  2. hello friko - i've not been able to get out and about in blogland for over a week so you're the first door i knocked on!!! the poem is so lovely - bridges is new to me so i've added his name to my journal. the walk was very pretty of course. the bench by the pond is a place i'd love to call my own. greedy aren't i?!!! thankyou friko for this lovely post. steven

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  3. I was right there with you Friko, but I did linger on the bench for a while enjoying the dappled light. That lucky dog, Benno!!!

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  4. A beautiful poem. I was wrapped up warm and enjoyed that little hike. Great pictures too. It is great to have a place to walk.
    QMM

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  5. I enjoyed the walk in your woods. Thank you.

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  6. Having spent my week with my head firmly behind my sewing machine I really enjoyed your walk through the woods. Thank you. A x

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  7. Love trees, am at home in woods & forests, must be something to do with the Forest of Dean. But as for the horse chestnuts on the farm, they are falling sick with the horse chestnut virus

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  8. A wonderful post, Friko. Now, I have to take a walk outdoors.

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  9. I love an opportunity to walk somewhere new. Your walk has all the elements of mine, but is still so very different - the woods, especially which drip with moss here. Did Benno get into the manure?

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  10. I feel as if I walked in the woods with you.
    Lovely.

    Chancy
    www.driftwoodinspiration.blogspot.com

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  11. WOW!

    Nature there is SOOO PRETTY! I'm jealous! I love the first three photos!

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  12. Thank you, just what I needed today!

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  13. Thank you for the guided walk. I burned off at least one chocolate biscuit with all that healthy exercise, so am heading down to the kitchen for another.

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  14. It is so hot here that I was ready to jump into that first cooling photo and just sit and gaze at the pond. Thanks for a refreshing tour of a lovely spot to take a walk.

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  15. I adore your idyllic neck of the woods!

    Thanks for stopping by the manor. I'm looking forward to getting to know you! :)

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  16. Ooooh, how lovely. Thank you for visiting today--I did SO enjoy your comment! Have a delightful weekend!

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  17. Friko, thanks so much for the visit. I'm glad I gave you a giggle!!

    kenju

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  18. The path is my favorite – it’s fun to imagine what might be at the end of the path.

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  19. her at home - then we are both lucky
    steven - Hi, glad you're back. hope nothing was wrong?
    Bonnie - Benno loves it here
    English Rider - thanks
    QMM - It sure is, thanks for coming
    Cloudia - thanks, aloha!
    Karin - glad you came
    Wipso - you should come along too
    muddyboots - we have the same problem, ours is very sick and has been topped.
    Prospero - don't forget to take Angelina
    Pondside - no, he didn't; wasn't allowed to!
    Chancy - thanks for calling
    Ryan - thank you for visiting, hope you come again
    WIAR - glad to be able to help
    Fran Hill - that's the good thing about a walk, you're allowed a treat afterwards
    Darlene - goodness me, still?
    Willow - thank you, me too
    Beth Niquette - thank you very much
    kenju - thanks for visiting - come again
    Radja - hello Radka, thanks for visiting, do call again some time
    Vagabonde - isn't that what all paths are for? to lure you on into the unknown?

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  20. Liebe Friko,

    was für ein schönes, stimmungsvolles Gedicht und durch die wunderbaren Bilder habe ich das Gefühl mit Euch die friedliche herbstliche Stimmung geteilt zu haben. Danke Dir fürs "dabei sein". Vielleicht hast Du ja auch mal Lust in meinem Lyrik-Blog [url='http://veredita.blogspot.com']Veredit-iertes[/url] ein wenig zu stöbern. Mir scheint da viel gemeinsames zu sein und ich freue mich über unseren kleinen Austausch.

    ganz liebe Grüße
    Isabella

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Comments are good, I like to know what you think of my posts. I know you'll keep it civil.