Come let’s walk together on this clear late winter’s afternoon. With frosty grass crunching under foot, let us walk up the hill towards the top wood. In the West the setting sun is turning the sky glorious shades of yellow and gold. Absorbed and delighted by the sight, we stand and look until the sky starts to darken towards nightfall.
Tucked up against winter’s cold, we walk along quiet mysterious footpaths filled with the ephemeral shadows and sounds of the night. The darkening sky starts to fill with a thousand stars and we feel we are standing at the threshold of infinity; two lonely figures under the vast expanse of the universe. Alone, but not lonely, feeling part of everything set before us, we exchanging a few words in a soft whisper, not wanting to disturb the serenity of these sacred moments, in this peaceful place.
night of stars and moon –
what a spacious sky
what grandness
Shokaku
Tr. Stephen Addiss
What a pleasure it is to wander along with a like-minded friend, on a night such as this. With the murmuring sound of the nearby river below, it seems that we can almost hear crackle of the blue starlight high above. Breathing the pure night air, minds at rest, bodies safe and warm, tonight we have roamed well beyond the restraining net of human consequence
Our thanks to Aileen Milne for these lovely photos taken on 2oth January 2023