walking back and forth in time

I must have been in a particularly pensive mood this morning on our first walk of the day, memories kept flooding my vision. 

the hollow took me back over 40 years to my childhood in the garden in England where I had a special tree: it must have been an apple tree with a hollow, situated in the middle of the orchard; I would spend many hours in the garden, where I had set up both a tent and a wigwam, concocting brews with mud, leaves and water. 

men have been busy in the woods these past weeks: the willows have been pollarded, turning the landscape into hobbit-land

this one is big, there are four main branches growing from the original stump, each almost a separate tree; I love this about the willow, the ability to open up and survive. These trees feel very much at home here with all the water and offer food and shelter to many different kinds of animals, from insects to birds, hares,  roedeer and foxes

 I collected a few willow twigs and held them in my mouth so I could tie my hat on even tighter as the icy cold wind blew into my ears! and as the twigs had been lying in the mud, I tasted this mud and thought to myself: when was the last time I had mud in my mouth? used to have that a lot when I was younger....my grandfather used to say(or so my mother tells me) one needs a pound of mud a year to stay healthy; so following his advice I started with my first intake of the year.

back home the two willow-pussy twigs in a tiny vase by Gutte Eriksen, a Danish ceramist; in return for the vase I gave her a small tree-of-life painting. She liked it so much, she took it with her to the hospital whilst convalescing from a broken hip; she said it served as a talisman. She did recover, but passed away a year later in 2008.

there's even more on the willow front: one of my favourite books! I keep rereading it and have read the Dutch version to the boys, who of course loved it as well, though not as much as I do.....
I think my fondness for moles, rats and toads must have originated here and I am fortunate enough to live in the countryside where they live in close proximity.