Mousehold Heath

In class yesterday, we covered Moorlands, Uplands, and Heaths. When we think of moors and heaths, we conjure an image straight out of a Victorian Gothic novel. Scenes of barren and wind swept landscapes, but the truth is, they only look that way because of human interference. According to my professor, the landscape naturally wants to be wooded. Humans prevent that by letting their livestock gaze on the land. 


 Today, Mousehold Heath looks like this. Starting in the 19th century, parts of the land went through the process of enclosure. Now 182 acres are owned and managed by the City of Norwich. 

I'd known for about a week that I wanted to go out and be in nature to celebrate Ostara (the Spring Equinox). So when my professor told us about Mousehold Heath, on the edge of town, at the end of our seminar, I knew I had to check it out.  I'm so glad I did because it was amazing!

As a woman who has spent the last 20 years living in the mountains of Western North Carolina, I need to spend time in the woods. Today's adventure gave me the opportunity to just that. I joyously climb trees, got lost in the woods, (without the worry of running into a black bear) and picked some wildflowers. For me, being in nature is a way of recharging my spirit. It gives me the chance to reflect on my life, as well as connect with my ancestors. Who I believe are always with us. I also use my time in nature as an opportunity to talk to my brother.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that he can hear me. I may not be able to hear his reply, but I can feel his presence when I'm speaking. I also talk to my Grandma Bets who passed when I was seven. Basically, I use my time in nature to recharge my batteries. So often we get lost in the shuffle of daily life that we forget to connect with the natural world around us. As the great John Muir said,

 "Keep close to Nature's heart ... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." 

 I truly believe that. He also said, "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." and "The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." So go out and spend some time in nature. Blessed Ostara everyone!

 ***All photos taken by me.

  


Location: Norwich, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kindergartners!

Image
Photo Credit: https://www.vimbly.com/ This week was my first week back at Vance after being on vacation. Wednesday, like most Wednesdays, was a slow day. All I did was water the garden and pick up green walnuts for Kimberly and Lauren to use during the Folk Festival. It was so dead that Lauren sent me home 30 minutes early. Thursday on the other hand was busy. We had a group of 22 kindergartners, from the Verner Center for Early Learning, visit the site. They began their day with us by going on a tour of the main house, tool shed, loom house, and slave cabin. After the tour, they were taken to the class room for the History Mysteries lesson. This is were the kids get to handle some of the artifacts. During a normal lesson the kids are divided in to groups and each group is given an artifact, but the adults with them went "off script", as Lauren called it, and started passing the artifacts between groups. Following the lesson, they broke for a 30 minute lunch. After lunc...
Read more

Easter at Norwich Cathedral

Image
  This morning Veronica, her father Kelly, and I went to the Easter service at Norwich cathedral. This was my first time attending an Anglican church service, as well as a service in a cathedral.   While I am not a Christian, I can appreciate the history behind the pomp and circumstance of this kind of church service. Despite my own Religious/Spiritual beliefs, I did enjoy parts of the service. I enjoyed the music greatly. How could you not enjoy Handel's [1] Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah in a 12th century cathedral? I didn't, however, sing along to the words. It just didn't feel right to sing words that I don't believe, so I just hummed along to the music.    Because of my not being a Christian, I decided to go into this experience from an anthropological and historical perspective. I didn't want to automatically go into this from a place of judgement about anything I might hear.  I wanted to keep an open mind.  And I think I did....
Read more

Cambridge

Image
Over the weekend,Veronica and I went on an exciting adventure to Cambridge. This was our first big trip, and boy did we learn a lot about the do's and don'ts about travel; from the planning stages to the actually going. For example, we booked a lovely Air b&b in the village of Willingham. Little did we know that it was 12 miles outside of Cambridge and a taxi ride would cost us 35 pounds, or that the bus from Willingham into Cambridge only runs every hour and a half to 2 hours. OR that the guided bus into Cambridge is in the neighboring village of Longstanton which is a 45 minute to an hour walk away. Live and learn! Despite these set backs, we enjoyed our trip. The Air B&B that we stayed in from Friday to Monday was called, "Willingham House." We were in the lodge, but the main house is part of Cambridge Melchior College which offers a a wide range of cultural exchange programs. Our room in the lodge was very nice: it was simple, nothing fancy, but I...
Read more