Solitude

Something About the Woods

There's something about the woods.
All alone surrounded by God's magic.
Peace and quiet in my solitaire moods.
No worries, people or events so tragic.

Crisp, cool air in my lungs.
The whisper of forest breeze.
A break from climbing life's rungs.
A special time on my memory to freeze.

A paradise of contentment,
to restore my soul’s energy.
No worry about advancement.
Basking in nature's sweet synergy.

No more of life's fast frame.
Back in control of my time.
Each day not more of the same.
Money no issue I don't need a dime.

There's something about the woods.
Only here can real peace be found.
Not a crowded neighbourhood,
where all is one busy loud sound.

Nothing can compare to star lit canopy.
A hot steaming cup of camper’s tea.
The preservation of my sanity.
I escape from life's endless sea.

by Luke

Sometimes you just want to be alone. Today was such a day for me and when I feel like that there is only one place to go – Nostell Priory. There is something very comforting about visiting this stately home and its gardens. Today was particularly blustery and it had threatened to rain all day but I was determined not to let that stop me. As I walked down the path to the house I tried to walk slowly to take in the sights and sounds of everything around me but I couldn’t. I felt an urgency to get to the gardens and even the wind seemed to be pushing me along.

I entered the gardens and immediately a sense of peace came over me. I walked the familiar paths that I have walked so many times and watched the branches of the tress bending in the wind as though greeting me like an old friend.

I love this place; there is something magical about this garden and the way that with each season it seems to reinvent itself to become more beautiful and more serene.  Today I marvelled at the snowdrops that littered the woodland areas between the trees. These tiny little flowers, so delicate and pure are yet so strong that they have been growing throughout the winter when the ground was cold and hard. Somehow despite the harsh weather, they have broken through the ground and were there dancing in the wind – a sign of triumph over adversity and the promise of better things to come.

Further into the gardens you reach a point when you can no longer hear the traffic from the roads and the only sounds are that of the ducks on the lake, the birds in the trees or the wind blowing the trees and the fallen leaves. It is impossible to describe the peacefulness and tranquillity that descends when you reach such a place and the only thing to do is to stop and savour every moment.

I stood under one of my favourite trees and just let the breeze blow across the lake and up onto the banks, into the tree and onto my face. It was such a refreshing, relaxing feeling – a facial from Mother Nature.

I walked around the gardens for nearly two hours, just marvelling at the beauty that was before me and how even though there was evidence of winter everywhere, there were also signs of spring. Crocuses were beginning to push through the ground to join the snowdrops and buds were beginning to appear on the magnolia trees. The fresh air itself seemed to carry with it an anticipation that touched each and every plant or tree as if giving it the kiss of life and waking it up after a winter’s sleep. I felt renewed and strengthened just by being there and sharing these quiet moments with nature.

“Solitude is such a potential thing. We hear voices in solitude, we never hear in the hurry and turmoil of life; we receive counsels and comforts, we get under no other condition . . .”
~Amelia E Barr.