Sunset Pine

Sunset Pine, Glen Einich

Scots Pine silhouetted at sunset, Glen Einich

The sun sets behind the Monadhliath mountains in the distance, through the branches of a lonesome pine, high above the main treeline.

The Highlands have been basking in stunning spring weather for most of the last fortnight – an abrupt switch from two weeks ago when it was snowing hard.  There’s been hardly a cloud in sight, with deep blue ‘arizona’ skies in the day, and sharp frost at night.  Its been hot in the sun, and rather a sharp nip in the shade!  The trees have been coming into leaf, the colours are amazing, and its heaven on earth.

The days are getting long now.  I awoke early one morning and happened to see the sunrise, a red fireball glowing through peachy mist, and the ground white with frost.  After a day’s work there is still plenty of time to go out for a few hours to catch the sunset, and the best light of the day.

Light and shade in the pine forest, Rothiemurchus

Biking up through Rothiemurchus, the illumination from the sinking sun made for striking patterns of light and deep shade in the pines.

Staying with the forest – I’ve been reading about the latest research project from the Heartmath Institute, which is looking into a deeper understanding of how people and trees are connected, using highly sensitive bio-electrical monitoring. Read the article here.

“We tend to think of landscapes as affecting us most strongly when we are in them or on them, when they offer us the primary sensations of touch and sight. But there are also the landscapes we bear with us in absentia, those places that live on in memory long after they have withdrawn in actuality, and such places – retreated to most often when we are most remote from them – are among the most important landscapes we possess.”

– Robert Macfarlane, ‘The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot’

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