birches

This was the view I had when I finally opened my eyes this morning.

 I had been bivvying in the far corner of the garden, where there is a small grove of silver birch trees. Last night, their  bark shone white  in the bright moonlight. This morning, the rising sun lit them up in shades of orange and yellow.

I always wake up a few times in the night when I sleep outside, and then fall back asleep quite quickly. This gives me the chance to appreciate the night in its different stages, as the moon and stars change position around me, and the birds and animals live out their nocturnal lives.

As I walked out into the garden, I heard geese overhead..perhaps on their way back to the  north to breed? This morning it was the calling of two tawny owls I heard first, around dawn, and then a solitary pheasant.This was soon followed by the chirp of small birds, and then the clear and beautiful song of a thrush. I listened to all this and went back to sleep for another hour or so. My sleeping bag was covered with frost, but I had been toasty warm -  I'd used the down four season sleeping bag which D's father had bought him in 1977 :-)

I've not really spent much time indoors since getting up, except for the hour of  our weekly work Zoom call. I've been on a walk and tackled some more gardening. It has been a pleasure to be outside, a lovely springlike day, rather  different from when I bivvied out in exactly the same place Three years ago...

Today's walk: Routin brig wood, forestry road, back by the Cluden 5.02 miles.