Art Naturel : 1

I did think about Christmas shopping - for a millisecond - before heading off into the bluebell woods.  As I climbed a footpath up the wooded escarpment of Great High Wood on the outskirts of Durham city, I noticed a tiny little fungus growing at the base of one of the wooden step risers. It didn't look much but then, in one of those magic moments, the low sun came out from behind a cloud, sliced through a holly bush and lit the fungus like a spotlight on a dancer.  As the colours burst out, the beauty of this perfect antidote to the grey gloom of recent days made identification seem an irrelevance.