Daily Nature Log ✍️

The Twilight Wind & The Applause of Oaks

    At 4:00 pm, a crisp 21 mph southerly wind knocked the 13°C air down to a bite-size 10°C. With the clocks newly turned back, twilight was already gathering beneath a sky heavy with rainclouds, while Cemetery Drive lay thick under a carpet of storm-blown pine cones.
    A flash of vibrant red caught my camera—a solitary hydrangea blooming cheerfully beside a small feijoa tree—before a sudden movement stole the scene: a muntjac deer darting off, its white tail flashing bright in the fading light. Up at the top field, a lone walker was giving two playful Cockapoos a free run, while a brace of wood pigeons clattered noisily overhead. After pausing to capture the sweeping view of the distant fields, I turned back toward home.

    That’s when the wind put on a performance. Blowing through the pine trees near the allotments, it sounded just like the gentle ripple of applause before a concert. But as I reached the Holm Oaks on Cemetery Drive, their broad leaves thrashing in the gales turned that gentle murmur into a thunderous standing ovation!
    Along the rest of the route, the neighborhood pitbull gave his usual booming garden greeting, a flight of gulls swooped wildly over the golf course, a startled blackbird dashed across the lane with its classic alarm call, and a single, solemn feral pigeon kept watch from the leisure centre roof. The final ghostly notes of the walk came from the wind whistling through the five-a-side pitch fencing, just as one last dog-walker slipped under the trees with a friendly mongrel.

Walk Statistics
Distance: 2.51 miles
Duration: 54 minutes
Google Fit: 25 Heart Points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.