Last Friday, I had the chance to put into practice the writing lesson I mentioned in last week’s prompt and dive into the setting in which my family and I found ourselves in when we visited a local park for an owl hunt with a naturalist.
As we walked through the woods, and the naturalist called to the owls, I tried to immerse myself in the setting, using all of my senses. I couldn’t take notes at the time, but here are my impressions.
- Stars glitter in the black sky
- Almost full moon throws moon shadows
- Boots squeak on the thin layer of snow.
- No smells
- Moon ignites ice-encased tree branches, making them sparkle
- Trees not directly in moonlight twinkle, like stars caught here and there on their branches, or the branches sparsely decorated with Christmas lights.
- Moonlight can look sinister, like a bad imitation of sunlight
Another sense to add to the customary five is the feeling a setting gives me. Walking through those glittering trees, I didn’t want to miss one beautiful aspect. I kept looking and looking. I was overcome with a sense of wonder, reveling in the beauty of God’s nature, in awe of how He didn’t have to make nature so breath-taking.
Because of the feelings this setting evoked, I will probably use it in a scene where my main character feels the same. I did have one observation that didn’t fit with my sense of awe, how the moonlight can look sinister. If I want to exploit that aspect of it for a different scene, I’ll need to either revisit the experience in my head or head out on another night hike. I like that latter idea better.
Have you hiked in snowy woods at night? How would you dive into this setting?
Beautiful photo and description!
The photo is not mine. It’s the best photo I could find on Pixabay for the prompt. I didn’t take any photos on the walk because I didn’t think I could capture anything in the low light.
You described it excellently!
I love walking in the snow at night with a full moon & glistening trees 🙂