Genesis.

The row of benches which face the front of the Sainsbury’s store in Ashbourne are permanently in shadow during the dark days of late autumn and winter. I came out of there today to see them bathed in sunshine for the first time this year, and it was a welcome sight to see the first hint that spring was on its way. It seemed apposite that a woman was sitting on one of the benches, taking the sun and cradling a half grown puppy with long, floppy ears. It clambered up her chest and nestled its head into her neck, a young year and a young life in perfect harmony.

And when I walked across the town I passed another woman walking slowly, clasping the hand of a little boy of maybe fifteen months. I turned briefly as I passed to watch the stiff and slightly faltering steps of a fledgling human just setting out on the road of life, and I thought of all that future still to come. The dramas, the excitement, the fear, the disappointments, the laughter, the tears, the pains, the pleasures, the achievements, the setbacks, and all there will be to learn for as long as his life shall last.

And it all starts here while the burgeoning and benevolent sun shines on a wooden bench in a little English market town, just as the world beyond seems set for chaos.