The Cathedral of May

Robin and His Mother Go to Nottingham Fair 

Oil on canvas, 1917

N.C. Wyeth

The first of May opens one of the two best months of the year, the other locally being October. (Further north it is probably September. By the same token The Hobbit, written in England, claims that elvish singing is not a thing to miss under the stars of June, and of Elrond as being 'kind as summer.') It is a great time to be out in the beauty of nature, learning to know something about God by knowing his works. 

It always made me think of the stories of Robin Hood in the Greenwood of Sherwood Forest, or how the Knights of the Round Table would 'go into a forest to seek adventure.' The great American painter N.C. Wyeth illustrated both of those things in his career.

It hung upon a thorn, and there he blew three deadly notes

Oil on Canvas, 1917

N.C. Wyeth

In our generations, Disney did a creditable version of a Robin Hood tale, which was after all based on folk tales for popular amusement. 

The Arthurian mythos was much harder for Disney, which didn't quite manage it. They did make a movie about it, but it is definitely not one of their best animations. The later Excalibur was appropriately mythic, if a little on the psychedelic side. 

Try the real forest, if you're able, and see if it isn't enough by itself.