Out With the Winter Brown.

The mild temperatures, light but persistent rain, and occasional sunny periods we’re having at the moment seem to have persuaded Lady Spring to start donning her finery. The Shire is awash with yellow and white daffodils, and down on the green space by the post box somebody has planted a patch of purple crocuses next to a stand of golden daffodils.

The roadside verges and the path through the wood at the top of my lane now have yellow celandines and white wood anemones blooming in close harmony, and the hedgerows, composed mostly of hawthorn, are showing flashes of fresh green at regular intervals. And if you like the colour white (when it isn’t laid on thickly by winter snow) the blackthorn bushes and trees are now coming into full bloom.

What a pity then that my enjoyment of it all is clouded by fatigue when I walk among it – aching legs, sore feet, tight chest, mild dizziness, and shortness of breath. The walks are an uncomfortable chore at the moment, taken out of a sense of duty to my body and mind. But if I can’t fully enjoy the vigour of a new spring, at least I can still appreciate it.