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Read in the woods on a rainy afternoon

27/7/2015

18 Comments

 
One reason I find microadventures so appealing is that they encourage us to do everyday things in unusual places. I like the idea of taking habitual activities (walking, eating, sleeping) and framing them in new ways (walking the length of a river, eating foraged food, sleeping on top of a hill). By changing the context, these ordinary activities become rather more extraordinary.
Tarp in the woods
After a busy week of travelling, hosting visitors, going to barbecues and organising more travel and social excitement for the rest of the school holidays, Sunday was going to be a day of down time. It helped that the forecast was for heavy rain: perfect weather for curling up with a good book and a bottomless supply of tea.

But technology had other ideas. There were emails to write, blog posts to draft, Twitter feeds to read, photos to edit, cute cat videos to watch . . . I still hadn’t opened my book by lunch time. Something had to be done. It was time for a microadventure!

View of trees
We made a thermos of tea, packed our new tarp, got wrapped up in our raincoats and headed off to Battle Great Wood. It was tipping down and the carpark was almost empty. Good. The last thing I wanted was a wet dog coming to shake itself off under our tarp! We found a clearing a few metres off one of the paths that wends its way through the wood and hitched the tarp to a pine tree. We weren’t worried about being seen - there are no rules against picnicking in the woods! In no time we had a flying-V set up, a walking pole propping up the middle to give us lots of headroom and the picnic rug spread out underneath to keep us clean and dry. I kicked off my boots and opened my book. Straight away, an inquisitive greyhound sniffed us out, but a whistle from its owners sent it pelting off through the trees. They were the only people we saw in the woods all afternoon.

The rain pecked loudly at the tarp and the wind whooshing in the trees made the weather seem a lot more ferocious than it really was. We, on the other hand, were warm and sheltered. It was exactly the kind of contrast that makes snuggling up by the fire on a squally winter evening so appealing. In fact, it was so distractingly wonderful to be both outside in the rain and perfectly dry that I found it hard to concentrate on my book!
Walking the Woods and the Water - book
Walking the Woods and the Water: In Patrick Leigh Fermor’s footsteps from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn is Nick Hunt’s account of a walking journey through Western Europe. Fermor began his walk from the Netherlands to Istanbul in December 1933; Hunt began his in 2011. I wasn’t far into the book - Hunt was in Germany and it was Christmas. As I read, I reached the point where Hunt sleeps out for the first time, in a small tunnel in a castle wall, hidden beneath a four-star hotel. “The effect was alchemical,” he says. “When I stuck out my head in the light of dawn, having not only survived the night but slept soundly in my hole . . . somehow I belonged in a way that I hadn’t before. Sleeping out produced a sense of enhanced connection with the land, a feeling almost akin to ownership.”

I can relate to that. Walking does this to some extent - and walking the paths of East Sussex over the last few years has both threaded the countryside together in my mind and helped me stitch myself into the landscape. But sleeping in fields and woods, on hills and beaches, seems to open a conduit between self and place so they blur and breathe into each other. Perhaps it is the liminal nature of the experience that creates the possibility of an exchange: slipping between sleep and wakefulness, unsure where dreams begin and end; seeing dusk extend into night, then watching night and dawn creep together across the sky; being cocooned but also startlingly, immediately open to the elements; staying still in a way that’s not quite camping but not quite just resting (so it’s not quite illegal, but it’s also not quite legal).
Tea in the woods
View with book
Under the tarp with our books and cups of tea, boots off, listening to the tapping of rain around us, watching the trees soak into deeper, richer shades of wetness, I felt a stirring of that connectedness. Akin to ownership, yes, but not ownership in the exclusive, proprietorial sense. Rather, it’s a sense of belonging-to-ness that feels like it works in both directions.

The rain did not let up. It was still pouring an hour later, when we got wetter and grottier packing everything away than we did setting it all up. But that’s OK. Actually, it was more than OK, it was fantastic. The whole experience transformed a rainy afternoon of books and tea into something unexpected - something rather more extraordinary.


Rain in the woods from In Which I on Vimeo.


We spent lots of time with trees in July, as per the challenge, but this outing felt the most adventurous!

18 Comments
Allysse Riordan link
27/7/2015 13:23:30

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!
We should definitely all take more time to go out when it rains - me included.

Reply
Jonathan link
27/7/2015 13:30:29

It was delightful! I hope to spend many more rainy afternoons in the woods under a tarp. In fact, I'm looking forward to the next rainy day when I can head out with a picnic!

(By the way, the link to your blog on your name is broken - so for others reading, you can check out Allysse's site here: https://besteglatisant.wordpress.com)

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Dorne Whale link
29/7/2015 12:57:37

Hi there,
I love this post and particularly the video, which really brings it alive.
I've retweeted @female1960.
Thanks for coming up with the idea and sharing. I will be back for more.
Dorne.

Reply
Jonathan link
29/7/2015 15:37:14

Thank you! I'm really pleased that you could share some of the experience, especially through the video. I always seem to forget to take videos, or I take little snippets and they just end up sitting on my computer forever. Maybe I'll try to make a few more to share. Thanks for tweeting, too! :)

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PA link
29/7/2015 19:03:34

Ah, that's brilliant. I must get out more!!

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Jonathan link
31/7/2015 19:34:55

So easy to do, so much fun! :)

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Mags
1/8/2015 01:36:53

Love the sound of the rain on the tarp. Sitting out in the rain can be a joyous experience!

Reply
Jonathan link
1/8/2015 11:04:46

It's such a relaxing sound. I actually keep watching the video because I find it so soothing!

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Stacey link
2/11/2016 01:22:18

I love this idea! Definitely something to remember on upcoming rainy days. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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Jonathan link
2/11/2016 02:58:20

You definitely should - and I think I should go again, soon, too. (And you're welcome!)

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Chelsea Haden link
2/11/2016 01:35:05

Hello!

I found you on the outdoor bloggers group - what a lovely post. There's some very cleansing about being out in the rain. That's it, I need a tarp! I've got an awesome woods near to me that would be perfect for it. Going to have a nosy around your blog.

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Jonathan link
2/11/2016 05:33:38

Oh, thank you! And welcome. You should definitely get a tarp for rainy day picnics and other adventures - and I'd love to read about it on your blog! :D

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Ruth link
2/11/2016 01:37:02

What a lovely post. Its really reminded me about the joys of simply being outside and how you dont need to make a big effort or go out for a whole day to enjoy. Definitely going to take a leaf out of your book and just get out for an hour or so here and there.

Reply
Jonathan link
2/11/2016 05:39:59

Thank you! It's so easy to do - but so easy to forget to do, as well. I think some of my favourite outdoorsy things to do are a bit like this one: a thermos of tea and a local view, some instant noodles on the camp stove in a field out the back, taking the laptop to the beach, reading a book outside...

Reply
Lauren The Helpful Hiker link
2/11/2016 03:40:13

What a beautiful way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. I love the idea of a microadventure, something I'm trying to work into my hectic life!

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Jonathan link
2/11/2016 08:01:23

You'll love it, is my guess! I enjoyed my year of microadventure in 2015 and I have missed being quite so connected with nature this year. I recommend it! (Here are some ideas: http://inwhichi.weebly.com/-write/52-microadventures)

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Jenni Tulip link
3/11/2016 06:27:08

What a fab idea! I love the idea of 'escaping' for a few hours with just a tarp. I think I will try this. I want to meditate but find it so hard to allow myself the time and also find it hard to not thing of 'stuff' ALL the time. I will try taking my pop up tent into the wood to relax. Thanks for the idea!

Jenni
<a href="http://www.thethriftymagpiesnest.co.uk/">The Thrifty Magpies Nest</a>

Reply
Jonathan link
4/11/2016 21:29:05

Absolutely. And a pop-up tent would be perfect, too - certainly less faffing around with knots and ropes! Let us know how your meditation goes...

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