cloud cloth

The day started grey but by mid morning a marbled texture, like the hide of an animal, clothed the sky. I was exploring the lime woods, looking for mistletoe and scarlet elf caps and wondering at the ancient hulks of lime and oak. Below the holly and pine it was still and muffled like a vault, yet the sunlight streamed to the forest floor through bare winter branches. Well above the canopy, the warming day piled the clouds into towers set against cirrus like fine gossamer cloth.