Walking at WWT Arundel

In theory, the fact that I'm self-employed for half the week means that I shouldn't have to spend all the working day at my desk. If there's work to be done, fair enough. But if there's not — or nothing urgent — I should be able to step away and enjoy some time doing other things.

For years, I've had vague plans to spend a little of that time out in nature. But it never seems to happen. I could easily drive to Woods Mill, spend 40 minutes walking in nature, and be back at my desk within an hour. But I don't do it.

But some conversations I've been having of late made it plain to me that this is something I need to make time for. And so, before the Christmas break kicked in, I took half a day out to spend time in nature. It was something of a negotiation with myself: I settled on WWT Arundel, because it's got a café that I could get some work done it, and a shop where I could finish some last bits of Christmas shopping.

An escape to Arundel

With that in mind, I headed out of the house as soon as I could after the school run, and enjoyed the journey to Arundel. Once there, I resisted the temptation to do the jobs, first, and set out on the loop walk around the reserve. I took my camera, and used it as a tool to focus on the moment. Nearly 20 years ago, I did a photography course at Lee Abbey, that ought me to use photography as a meditative, mindfulness technique. You focus on the space, spend time on it, and then photograph the details that leap out at you.

And that's exactly what I did:

It was probably quieter on the estate than it's ever been when we've been there in the past. Some areas were shut, due to muddiness. And only a handful of people were wondering around. I saw more WWT volunteers at work than I did visitors. And as I settled into the rhythm of the walk, I started really appreciating the wintry details I was encountering:

The beauty of wintry nature can be significantly more subtle that that of spring or summer, but that's what makes it so much more valuable than the warm abundance you find in the middle of the year. The image below of the feathery winter form of clematis is one of my favourite photos from 2024. I'm toying with the idea of getting it framed, if I can persuade my wife that it deserves a place on our walls:

The wildfowl demand attention

However, as I approached the end of the walk, looping back towards the visitor centre, I was started by the noise of a flock of Canada geese taking off. I grabbed my camera, and, while the majority of the shots were out of focus, this one was a keeper:

The rest of the walk was dominated by the wildfowl, from the geese, adopting their famous V-shaped formation, to the various ducks and geese dotted about.

The visitor centre was in sight. But, to avoid the end of my walk, I dipped into one of the hides, to see what final images I could grab. I had it to myself, and enjoyed some happy memories of my youngest being guided by one of the volunteers there, back in the spring. But then I settled back into the moment, and caught some last shots of the geese and ducks on the main lake in the centre of the reserve.

And, finally, I took some images of the glorious reddish-orange leaves of a bush right by the centre.

Once back in side, I treated myself to a sandwich and coffee from the café and started catching up with my pre-holiday emails.

I'd finally done it. I'd taken a couple hours out of the working week to spend time in nature, enjoy a hobby, and bolster my mental health.

Can I do it again in the New Year? And again? Can I make this part of the rhythm of my life?

Let's see.