Cyclokairos

A somewhat pessimistic post last time out. A ride out Bearley way offered glimpses of nature doing alright, getting on with things. Approaching the village from the direction of Snitterfield, there’s a bridleway to the right, running alongside the first house on the north side of the village. Its start, a grass verge next to the driveway of the house. Veer a bit more right, and you’re into fields.

Further on, you ride along a ditch before parting ways, with a steady climb besides Twelve Acre Wood.

Despite the dry spell, signs of life. The plants are doing well, and dozens of common blue damselflies flitter about.

I spot a large caterpillar – no clue what it is. I’m getting better at identifying insects, but many escape my limited knowledge. I do use various apps (couldn’t get close enough in this case), but it’s rewarding to just know it.

Carrying on, I drop down from Fox’s Bargain towards Langley Green Farm. Some of the fields are fallow this year, and wildflowers prosper. In fact, given the masses of clover, has it been planted deliberately as a green manure?

I end up at the railway bridge south of Langley, and turning left under it, I pick up the start of another bridleway to the right, that takes me north of Edstone Farm.

A small bridge takes care of a brook and from then on a non-stop cycle home.

The garden at home is not just to please the eye, but there’s a nod to helping insects too. A way out of thoughts locked into a permacrisis.