This week in the forest, we’ve been enjoying the autumn season. The rainclouds have settled over the forest, giving the trees much needed water from the hot summer that we’ve had. Our plane tree is beginning to change colour from yellow-green to a lovely shade of copper red. We enjoy the crisp morning air as we eat our breakfast and warm up for the day by playing tag and running races before we settle for the day in the forest.
We noticed other changes as we explored the forest that come with the start of the autumn season. The river has more water flowing through it and faster too! We wondered about the animals and plants that live near it. The birds that nested on the banks in the summer must have found a warmer place to spend the winter and the berries have all shrivelled up so that the berry bushes will have time to rest for the next spring. We also noticed our animal friends getting ready for the cold months. We found chestnuts and plane tree seeds that squirrels have buried. The parakeets have grown more quiet and come only in the evenings to sleep in the hollows of our plane tree. There were more mushrooms growing in the meadow. Clumps of tiny milky yellow mushrooms appear on the edges of the paths and pillowy wood mushrooms grow from the stumps. We’ve been very mindful of making sure we let them grow and to not pick them.
We observed the forest in another way as well. We used our sense of touch to feel changes in our environment. We noticed the earth feels moist and crumbly now from when it was firm and dry in the summer. The branches, while rough, have little spots of stringy soft moss growing on their surface. The leaves have turned crunchy and brittle between our fingers and the bark of our plane tree feels somewhat soft and damp from drinking up lots of water from the rain. The air feels cold and wet, making us retreat into our dens and tarps to read or do calming activities.
In our cooking session, we made apple chips. We cut up juicy and crunchy apples and after putting them in the oven to bake, we felt the warm, pillowy texture of the slices before popping it into our mouth for a warming snack.
We are enjoying the start of autumn and we’re looking forward to seeing what other changes we’ll observe as the season changes into winter. We’ll be back next time with stories of our next adventures.
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham