Moonlit Walk for Full Moon Festival

Full Moon / Mid-Autumn Festival was on 1st October this year

We arrived at the woodland as the moon was rising so as we set off it was still quite dark so we stuck initially to the wider fire trails, catching glimpses of it low down between the trunks of the trees. It was a really still night, not a shiver of a breeze so our footsteps sounded so noisy crunching on the gravel. We heard an owl hoot occasionally but nothing else rustled in the dark, our approaching footsteps would have cleared the area well before our arrival. My eyes adjusted to the lack of light but some dips in the trail were very dark and we both noticed how much sharper was our awareness of the scents of the forest by night. As we reached a junction in the trail where the trees were thinner I saw one ghostly grey tree stand out from the inky black of its neighbours as the moonlight reached it. We stood for a while at that junction just experiencing the way that light, even such a soft one, made us feel so different (hard to put into words). As the moon rose we ventured onto

the forest trails, loamy soil or soft pine needles beneath our feet absorbing our footsteps. We slowed our pace to savour it, to still ourselves as the forest was still. I've got moonscapes imprinted in my mind and heart: the bright clear moon in a starry sky framed by tall pines, tinted with pleasure and appreciation and a little bit of excitement.

August Moon by Rae Story