Mid Autumn Reflection
by my friend Gill Henwood who took the photos.

Brambles along the ridge track, Grizedale Forest, are aflame in the pyrrhic victory of autumnal mid-November.

I’m reflecting along the way about glory in the natural world
as leaves fulfil their task of nurturing the trees for this season,
of sheltering wildlife and shading the forest floor.
Trees and their undergrowth are gradually withdrawing their summer lush greens,
through autumn russets to the stark beauty of their varied branches.

The brambles arch and scramble below,
creating spiny sanctuaries for creatures to nestle down out of danger.
Birds and mice have mostly taken the blackberries and carried their seeds
further along the forest edges and field hedgerows. 

Creation is readying for the burst of life starting after midwinter in only a few weeks’ time.
Primroses are flowering already in sunny spots, unseasonally warmed.
Bulbs are waiting, biding their time, just below the leaf litter.

Advent is not far from us – our time to get ready,
to prepare for the explosion of new life into the world at Christmas,
the coming of the Christ Child as the new era dawns and continues…

Gill Henwood

Stir up, O Lord,
the wills of your faithful people; 
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may by you be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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