A walk in the woods

This afternoon, my wife and I went to a walk in a nearby park. I am fond of walks as I mentioned before a few times. This time we took a narrow path that took us in a little bit of woodland. We walked in the woods in Brittany (where this picture was taken). In general I prefer woodlands, however small, to urban parks, even though I like parks.

I find forests and woodlands particularly atmospheric. In Middle Ages, they were a place of danger: wild beasts, brigands, unfriendly elements. You could easily get lost in the woods, literally trapped in them. Forests became associated with the supernatural. Because of the proximity the people had then with the forest (it covered most of Europe and was literally at people's door), danger was close to them. Later on, forests were often the setting of many fairy tales. Even today, they can still be wonderful places for ghost stories. M.R. James had many hauntings taking place in British woodlands. It does not take much to create terror: a lonely character walking in the woods one late afternoon, a shriek coming from nowhere.

This time in September, the trees are still very green, but you can see leaves changing colour and some already down. The weather was sunny and mostly warm, but there was sometimes a light breeze that made it bearable. I cannot wait to walk in woods in the middle of autumn, when it is full of ambery colours.