We are promised a heat wave and thunderstorms, but today started absolutely perfectly. I woke early and was out walking by 6:30 in the cool morning mist. It was one of those times when I realise just how many millions of spiders I share the world with – I could have taken 100s of photos, as every twig, stalk, leaf, seedhead and fence wire was bedecked with strings of dewy diamonds. Most were condensation from the humid air, but leaves were also outlined with a fringe of guttation dewdrops – moisture expelled from the plant’s surface under humid conditions (it normally evaporates invisibly).
The air was still and golden, and apart from birds twittering and a cock crowing, it was almost silent, until the traffic on the coast road started at about 7, and I startled a roebuck who ran barking though the wheat, his progress marked by rustling and the occasional glimpse of ears.
I walked on through the pasture with a delicate fogbow haloing my head – too fugitive to show in a photo – accompanied by two of my familiars who were somewhat bemused by a long early morning walk! Alfie stayed home to guard the house…
