The sun was shining for what seemed like the first time this year.Was this really the first day of spring? The earth was full of promises today. It felt as though it had finally awoken from its slumbers and life was at the starting gate ready to go.
The treetops were filled with tumultuous twittering. Busyness amongst the sparrows and fighting for territory amongst the finches and blackbirds who danced and hoped over one another then flew fighting in mid air. I heard a buzzard, its ‘wyring’ cry high in the sky.
Last year’s leaves cloaked the ground as thick brown mulch but the hopeful yellow primroses with soft green, oval leaves had burst through.
Swathes of snowdrop blooms hung like pearl pendants and nodded gracefully on their upright, slim, olive stems . Their frothy whiteness punctuated by the trumpeting brightness of the daffodils.
A woodpecker, looking for bugs in tree bark, drilled nearby. Then a little while later, I heard its mocking laugh which reminded me of Professor Yattle out of Bagpuss.
Wiggly yellow catkins littered the muddy ground like fluffy caterpillars. In the fields, the crows were closely examining a newly dug mole hill for insects and worms.
Claude saw movement and was off – bounding across the field towards the hedge- line. The squirrels darted in different directions and Claude ran down the middle. He looked baffled – he simply couldn’t understand where they had gone and why he hadn’t caught one.
I heard the clumsy flapping of a pigeon high in the holly. The blue-tits chattered away amongst the green leaves. I felt the warmth of the rising sun touch my cheek. I smiled. At last, perhaps spring really is here.
A few steps and I had reached the gate. I didn’t want to pass through and leave this vibrant exuberance. I could hear the roar of the rush hour traffic. I would have much preferred to remain right there than re-enter the human world of noise and deadlines.
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