A YEAR ago, we spend two months quietly chronicling daily life in the Chilterns at the tail end of the year.
Those precious “mindfulness moments” were inspired by the glorious photographs of our regular contributors and provided a welcome opportunity for thoughtful reflection about the natural world around us.
Our hectic lives offer few such chances to allow our minds to wander away from the cares and tribulations of our daily routines, and our December reverie allowed us time to consider the glorious plumage of kingfishers, the supposed slyness of foxes and the cleverness of goldfinches and pigeons.
Amid the bare branches of winter trees or traversing flooded footpaths, there was time to contemplate forest law in the era of the Norman kings, reflect on why the sky appears so blue and explore the extraordinary history of the prickly teasel, which once played such a central role in the nation’s cloth production.
Against the warm yellow backdrop of ancient cottage windows, December days offer a range of moments to cherish: the smell of woodsmoke drifting across the fields, the lure of a roaring fire in a friendly pub or the cawing of rooks on a dusk walk along a darkened country lane.
From elegant egrets and colourful jays to chattering parakeets and territorial robins, there are plenty of feathered friends around to distract our attention while we ponder about the talents of ancient Babylonian stargazers, misty legends in foggy forests or the traditions associated with the winter solstice…
