A glorious sparkly morning for a walk in the park.

The sight of the sunshine and icy blue sky meant I donned my walking boots once more and had a long walk in the park.
The light was beautiful. Trees had sparkling branches. Frost remained in little pockets on the ground or in the puddles.
 I caught sight of houses with their roofs steaming as I walked to one of the park gates. It is 2,400 acres in size. One of the largest urban parks in the UK. 
And it is right on our doorstep so to speak. About 20 minutes walk from here to our nearest entrance. Cars are not allowed into it except for designated parking areas around the perimeter. All of which makes for peaceful wanderings. 
   I took so many photos. 
It was hard to choose only three! I seem to now only have 21 extras remaining. 
The smell of the decaying leaves is always so evocative.  
  A Times journalist wrote recently in the Nature Notebook section, 
" It may be unscientific but I feel part of the "smell" of winter that we so often mention but are never sure of is the new scent of freshly dead leaves."
 She half buried buried herself in a pile and breathed in the aroma, trying to decide if it could be analysed. 
She talked about the pigments that were normally drowned out by the green, beginning  to show through, giving us the wonderful reds, yellows, orange,and purples.
She says this is what causes all the drama and the rush to "capture all the magnificence and melancholy of it in poetry." 
    I guess I am trying to capture it in photos. But they do not have the smell of winter that envelops us  in a woodland walk.
The  bright sunlight filtered through the crisscrossing tangled branches, and made long shadows across the paths. Streams had tracks of brilliance, dazzling the eyes. 
I loved every single minute.