Autumn sunshine,  a cold day. A rope of guelder rose berries looped itself around bramble, brilliant scarlet. A blue tit was feeding on the last of the ripe blackberries, and fieldfares were schacking in the hedgerow. A company of skylarks was hovering over a ploughed field, easily identifiable from their song. A kestrel flew across into the wood.

An ancient oak, a sprig of its leaves in the sunshine, and acorns for the squirrels

A monk is a man who is separated from all and who is in harmony with all

Evagrius of Pontus