Not super consistent with my posting dates but life gets in the way doesn’t it. Still enjoying this though, part of my morning routine now after some stretching and breathing.

Anyhoo, on the nature front, I went camping over the weekend. I found an absolute cracker of a campsite in the Trossachs not too far from Callander. A lot of the lochs in the area have a lovely ring of mixed woodland around the shoreline, mostly made up of the fluffy tops of deciduous trees like birches and oaks. It’s amazing looking around and seeing all the variety, just this explosion and riot of light greens. The forest floors were carpeted with saplings, ferns, blueberries (aye or blaeberry), crowberries, and moss. So much moss!

It was this stark difference between this woodland and the forestry woodlands I’m used to which was so refreshing yet so shocking. The air is humid and humming with noise, the ground is lush and wet and all around you it is open and light. But step over into the plantation and all is dark, close, stuffy, dry and most of all, silent.

I had hoped, though, when I climbed Ben A’an, a steep fecker but enjoyable and beautiful nonetheless. This was one I had climbed about 6 years previously, and the difference was startling. All around Ben A’an 6 years ago was the remnants of a recent clear fell. All the trees in the area had been cut down, and all was open, littered with stumps and branches useless for timber. However, on my recent visit, birch, rowan, and oak saplings were springing up everywhere. Blueberries and ferns were also dotting hummocks and alongside streams. It was a marked and welcome difference in such a short time. 10 years from now, the whole hillside should be a thriving deciduous woodland.

So having a look around Scotland it brings me great joy to know that things can turn around surprisingly quickly if you just give them the time and space to express themselves.