A Frosty Walk

The frost laid so thickly on the ground in places this morning, it looked like snow. It was still dark when I set out and the fog had the world shrouded in secret. I felt almost as if I had crossed over into another world, a fairyland. The pond has been frozen solid for over three days and on my walk yesterday, I watched a man venture out on it, laughing as he stood there while his wife took his picture.

The woods were quiet today. I only passed one other person. The fog began to lift in places and the sky gradually turned a pearlescent pinky peach. I watched a muntjac slowly come out from under the branches and make his way across the path in front of me. Only to be swallowed up again by the brush on the other side.

I saw a fox this morning. He was trotting along the footpath and we stopped to watch each other for a few moments before he ran down a side path and carried on deeper into the woods. I spied a great tawny owl sailing through the trees and majestically land on a barren branch, his body blending in perfectly with the bark.

It was a magical walk indeed and a wonderful way to start the week.