It's a pleasure and a privilege to live close enough to quiet, outdoor spaces to be able to wander into them whenever the urge strikes you. The woodland area around and past Clarence Park just out of the centre of Bury is from one perspective, though nothing much to speak of and from another, a haven of calm that contains all the wandering soul could ever ask for. There is nothing special about this particular woodland, indeed; all woods have this quality. They are normal, but alien. Natural, but unknowable. Nothing about them seems...human. This is what makes them so inviting.





Fallen trees, covered in moss, evoke dancers frozen in position by a nefarious and forgetful wizard.









You're never far from the road when you wander through this space - the low and constant hiss of traffic is always just audible enough. The so-called "real" world is just over there, and you can merge back in at any moment. For now, however, you move at a different pace. You appreciate the colour and the texture of the moss.









You look up.









You look down.









A hollowed out tree stump has fashioned itself into what I decide is a plant pot. I take four nasturtium seeds from my pocket and immerse them in the mud, making a mental note to check back here in a few weeks to see if anything has sprouted. The soil is very damp, perhaps too damp, but presumably nutritious. Give and take.





I found a couple of wild woodland plants I know nothing about, and took a couple of samples. This, tiny little damp and semi-moss-like plant...













...and this, which I strongly suspect might be edible:









I'm hoping the good hive minds over at /r/whatisthisplant can help me out with these. They're probably not interesting or rare, but so what? They are to me. Give and take, give and take.









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