Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the forest.
The summer heat is in full swing and I find myself dreaming of autumn — too soon, I know, as it’s barely the middle of July. Beauty can be found in every season, and I do my best to embrace each season for what it offers, despite the longing in my heart for rainy, moody days and cooler temperatures.
So I continue to seek out the small treasures of summer, and there are still many to be found. Today, we’ll find fields of buttercups, a few furry friends, and sunbeam spotlights — plus you’ll get to enjoy all these things without arriving home covered in mosquito bites, as I did.
Take a few deep breaths, and let’s wander.
Our feet meet the familiar soft dirt of a forest trail as we carefully traverse down a hillside; we break spider webs left from the night before as we venture off trail to find ourselves down along the rocky bank of the river as sun filters through the towering trees.
Across the river, unreachable to our curious feet, there lies a beautiful purple field of flowers basking in the morning sun. The river still moves too swiftly for a crossing as it is filled with snow melt from high up the mountains, so we must appreciate them from afar for now.
Pausing on a river rock, a fuzzy caterpillar friend rests, before carrying on to its destination.
After some time spent enjoying the cool breeze rising off the river’s flow, we head off to a lush and overgrown jungle. Back up the hill we trek, meandering through an expanse of forest coated in rich moss.
We arrive at an explosion of growth — the trail nearly invisible underneath the dense foliage. A steady buzz of unseen bees can be heard amongst the myriad of flowers covering the ground, rising above the greenery, claiming small patches where the jungle isn’t so dominant. Many we know, such as daisies and buttercups.
And others familiar to the eye, but names still unknown; whites and purples, more yellows, and tiny feathery whites intertwine amongst the leaves.
A round fuzzy bee even enjoys the purple-tinted upside-down bells adorning these straight stalks.
Eventually, the mosquitoes become tiresome in their constant presence, and so we leave our overgrown forest jungle, stopping to catch a beautiful contradiction of sunlight and shadow as it spills across a feathery fern.
Until our next walk together, I hope you find a few quiet moments throughout your week ahead.
♡ Whitney
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I just said this morning that I was ready for summer to be over & move on to fall, my favorite time of year!
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful walk. Your photography is just inspiring