Where the Bluebells Ring

"Have you been in an English Bluebell wood in spring before?"

Such was the intriguing message from Hannah Nunn, a friend I had never met who is also a nature noticer living in West Yorkshire, UK, in the town of Hebden Bridge. While I had not actually been in an English Bluebell wood before, I'd had the pleasure of seeing Hannah's photos and reading her beautiful writing of such walks through her weekly nature email, "Three Somethings," and her books Something I Have Noticed. (Please see below for details.)

The first three volumes of Hannah Nunn's lovely books, Something I Have Noticed, and some of her nature cut-outs.

My husband, Jay, and I were planning a walking trip through the Lake District, and I'd reached out to Hannah to see if I could come a day early and meet her at her studio in West Yorkshire on our way there. Hannah not only said yes, but she took the day off from work to take me on a ramble through woodlands, along streams, and up to hilltops to explore the places that I'd only seen through her photos and writing.

In Hannah's studio...I have her books, and she has mine!

So off we set along the path she takes from her studio back to her home. What a gift it must be to have this as your commute:

Then we came to the woodland...the English Bluebell wood.

The Bluebells rang at our feet,

a sweet song of an English spring,

sung in purple-blue.

The sun and shadows

danced through the leaves

that were emerging from

the beautifully twisted limbs.

It was even more magical than I'd imagined.

The woods were lush, and the brooks were literally babbling. It sounds cliche, but it's also true.

Such treasures I hold in my memory from that day:

the gifts of connected conversation and of seeing someone else's world through my own eyes;

of being in such incredibly beautiful land of rolling hills with stone fences bordering expanses of pastures, and fields of sheep and wildflowers;

and hills upon hills of trees that extend as far as the eye can see.

When next I walk with Hannah through the pages of her coming book, Something I Have Noticed, Volume 4, there may be pages when I realize, I've been there! When I look toward our studio doors here at home and see the delightful play of shadows cast upon the floor from the window film she created, I'll remember I've walked along that 'wild edge' that was the inspiration for her design.

And as now I look back at my photos and read my travel journal from the whole trip, I once again realize so many truths, and at an even more profound level. There is incredible beauty in connecting with others in nature, in taking time to see and be, and in slowing down and noticing the intricacies in the natural world...whether in a country across the ocean or in my own backyard.

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To read Hannah Nunn's post about this same day, please click here.

To see the many beautiful home items (wall papers, lamps, window films, etc.) and/or to subscribe to her weekly nature email ("Three Somethings"), please click here.

To receive my weekly email, "A Closer Look," please click here. A Closer Look is much shorter than this blog post. It is simply one nature photo and a short bit of original writing. Occasionally there is a link to a blog or my shop included.