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april '18: these early spring days...

in the woods near rauenthal.

as soon as the leaves of the trees develop their first buds for their summer dress, as soon as the sun stays a little longer in the evenings & as soon as i get the sense that spring is finally peaking around the corner, you can find me on exploring paths again. you will find me back in the woods, in nature, where every plant & every animal or insect is starting to crawl out of their winter hibernations. you will find me in places that bloom & turn to green oases again, after being devoid of colour for a few months. the grey skies of winter slowly wave goodbye and make way for friendlier blue skies. that time of the year ( complementary to autumn ) is a special one to me and one that i can't ever get enough of. it's a birthing month, a rising, an uplift. while in autumn i feel wrapped into warm colours of yellows, reds & browns that make me feel at home and like i'm in a safe space, spring is different with its greens & blues & pinks & whites & rainbow colours. it's a time that draws me out into the wild, out of myself, out of my winter skin. it's fresh & new & makes room for hope & new perspectives. autumn basically visualizes my interior being, while spring is what i call my exterior. i crave for warm & cozy moments, for turning inwards & crawling into a nest in autumn, but in spring it's the other way around. then my desires go for exploration, opening up my eyes & taking in fresh ideas & i turn into someone who hopes for some kind of enlightenment ( which in fact, i always hope for all year round, lol ). and the juxtaposition of spring & autumn is also a good analogy to who i am. i consist of extremes, always trying to find a balance between them. 

these pictures were made in the woods around rauenthal, a little village in the rheingau region. it was a cute little walk, nothing too difficult or exhausting, but still peppered with a few tiny highlights, such as the little forgotten allotment i stumbled over, or closely watching bees & bumblebees bringing home pollen to their wooden abode. it was a walk well spent with observing the arrival of spring - a fluffy & easy delight. 

following paths next to little streams...

enjoying green patches of new grass...

... and finding super tiny snails on tiny wood anemones. 🐌

mossy wood scattered all over late-winter forest grounds. 

oh, what do we have here? an abandoned allotment in the middle of the woods ( though very close to a street nearby ;P )

i decided to be a bit nosy and explore this little place some more. at first i didn't think it was super interesting, but upon closer examination...

... it turned out to be a rather creepy little hut. even though it was in a very desolate state it still looked kind of used. notice the wine bottle on the desk? the little red tea pot on the far left on the stove? seeing utensils like this helps me imagine very vividly that either people still visit this allotment, even if it's just for stupid bumming around shit, or that ghosts inhabit it. do you believe in ghosts? i don't actually, but i love ghost stories.

when i turned around the corner there was a really cool porch!

some random flower pot lying on the forest floor.

i really loved the porch wall with all the tiny window openings! it looked very remarkable and i imagined the creator of the hut was a very creative builder. i felt really sad to see such a beautiful little space rot away.

the light was super harsh, so sorry for the overexposure.

the red tea kettle from earlier. loved the flower & apple ornament.

trespassing is prohibited.

moved on, past a beautiful timber-framed house.

what i love most about houses like this are the geometric patterns of the timber-frames. it's just so visually pleasing to me.

puddle of mudd. there were also frog eggs in this puddle, didn't photograph well, though. the reflection is 😍

i encountered a lovely little insect hotel made out of wood and i spent quite some time watching bees & other critters carry their pollen goods back into their hive. this fuzzy ass is my favourite picture of them all :D

hey there, lady ❤

beeswax & tree rings.

tree skeletons.

lovely path framed by spring blossoms. 


view onto an unknown mountain peak. ( and i think the village you can see here is georgenborn ).

moss & ivy goodness.

i was walking the path of the owl. in germany a lot of hiking or walking trails are tagged with these little marker badges so you won't get lost. it is seriously one of my favourite things to do, when i'm out and about in the woods, exploring those pathways. they're almost always pretty lovely routes, spanning from 2 to 10 km. 

more anemones, more moss and maybe pilewort? these tiny blossoms really make walking in the woods around this time of the year so special. sometimes you can find huge patches of wild plants flowering and it's such an idyllic sight.

uprooted. goodbye, lovely rauenthal woods!

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