THE MAGIC OF LIGHT IN EARLY WINTER

​THE MAGIC OF LIGHT IN EARLY WINTER

Two weeks ago I walked through the very last of the golden weather early in the morning in Hagley Park. Winter sunlight was filtering through an avenue of trees casting long shadows across grass and pathways and the leaves still clinging to some trees, were lit up in a blaze of gold, while others already stripped of their leaves were skeletal against the sky.  And a golden carpet of fallen leaves, lit up my path, as more yellow leaves fluttered down around me.

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Walking along a pathway beside the Avon River which winds it's way through a shaded area of deciduous woodland, you turn a corner and there is the  sun  - a low ball of silver fire in the sky.  You catch your breath at the sight ahead of sunlight falling as a brilliant patch of light filtering through half bare branches lighting up the pathway.  While distant  trees still clinging to the last of their leaves in one last glorious burst of gold contrast with the dark bare shapes of trees still in shadow.

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The Maple Border of the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch is one of my favourite places.  There is something beautiful happening at every time of the year.  In early winter the sculptural shapes of maple woodland are highlighted silver white by winter sunlight.  They contrast with the last few maple leaves glowing golden in the background and the muted colours of Hydrangeas, crinkled and papery after frost.  As these eventually drop and we are left with bare bushes, it's comforting to know that  the emphasis will shift as the green of the Hellebores beneath, which have been understated all summer, will soon transform into a carpet of muted claret, pinks and white to add a fragile beauty to the winter scene.