Magical Wood

All morning it had been so rainy, misty and grey! It seemed best to go for a walk through the Solling Forest. Let us choose for the roads where there would be Nothing of any interest to see.
And of course this choice turned out to offer us a very beautiful promenade. Once we penetrated deeper into the Solling Forest Hills, silence became dominant. The mist broke, spots of blue in the cloudy sky shined though the tree tops. We discovered many many views of interest: bizarre root formations, mossy stones, glittering drops on branches, a bench so overgrown with fungi and moss, you could not sit down on. Gradually the entire sphere in these forestal surroundings became magical, changing our feelings, body and mind completely. We both felt uplifted into this strange world. It is so close to our back door. You could walk to the North for days without reaching another town. This all is so amazing. Even when we did not meet the wild boar, deer or fox, this time. Silence reigns everywhere.

Then the late sunlight falls in through the misty, damp, bare branches. Beaming onto the mossy grounds, wet, full of fallen leafs. And here we are, only the two us together. Sometimes our hands are touching. “This here reminds me of the woodlands your father dreamed walking in,” I said, as we were resting on a bench. But I know immediately: this is our dream-forest. My stepfather would have been proud and happy hearing we are at home in his favorite woodlands...I can see that in the particular way Willemien is walking. Sometimes we still walk with invisible companions. And a silent hymn is sung when the light radiates its mysterious beams through the tree branches as we go side by side, step by step.