It struck me today, whilst walking alongside the Canal du Nivernais, that not much changes along the path from Merry-sur-Yonne to Mailly-le-Château, and to describe the route to somebody may persuade them that it would be a boring walk, one not worth bothering with. I began to unpick the reasons for this, because actually it is a beautiful walk and I needed to understand where that beauty comes from.
I finally settled on the theory of colour: the palette of the landscape is so minimal, so understated, so tranquil, and that tranquility is projected into your mind and imprinted onto your soul as you become totally immersed in nature.
The palette provides the blue of the sky, the green of the vegetation, the brown of the soil and the trees and the yellow of the sandy path and the wheat fields, a pattern repeated wherever you are on Earth.
The canal itself is a chameleon, sometimes reflecting the blue of the sky and sometimes the green of the trees and shrubs on the banks.
There were surprisingly few flowers, but this did not detract from the beauty instead enhancing its simplicity.
I allowed my mind to follow this idea, extending my 'simple colour pallete theory' further, considering insects, animals and even humans.
The riverbank was amass with insects today, beautiful black and white butterflies visiting each flower along the a stem in turn, enchanting dragonflies darting from their hovering dance above the water to the wheat fields across the path in front of us and back again. Bees and beetles, hoverflies and midges all going about their simple business.
In the trees the birds were elusive, darting between the trees - just a flash of black or brown or the glimpse of a white tail - but all singing fit to burst with the joy of just being alive on a beautiful day.
We saw tiny green lizards scurrying from the path into the undergrowth, brown cows lazing in a field in the sunshine and a family of swans sailing elegantly through a lock and down the canal.
Even people have a limited palette once we are stripped of our flamboyant clothing and accessories. Just skin and hair, shades of dark and fair, black, brown and yellow; our eyes, brown, blue, green, grey, some even chameleon-like, like the canal.
And what is my conclusion? Simply that we are all part of the same thing, life on Earth, and that we are all programmed to seek peace and tranquility and play our part in the simple evolution of this planet we call home, and that this simple colour palette binds all living things together, makes us equal, making us feel part of something much bigger than just ourselves.
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