Autumn lane

There was a strange light today at the nature reserve. It was dull, but quite mild, and light seemed to struggle to get through the heavy air that hung in the valley between the beechwoods. A few times the sun broke through briefly and turned a harsh light on the soft, cosy, brown-grey vegetation... seemingly shocking it out of its early autumn snooze. Wonderfully, during one short sunny spell I watched a Southern Hawker dragonfly cruising up and down a hedgerow.

This is the lane that runs up the Dancersend valley to the nature reserve, where the arched trees are steadily becoming skeletonised and leaves are gathering to shelter from the wind. I take my journey along this lane three or four times a week rather for granted, but today I noticed that autumn was definitely making it different.