Through the window, dawn smudged pastel colours across the horizon. Mist rose over fields frosted white as I watched the red blur of a fox race back to its den.
I thought back to a few days before when my son had me check his garden for intruders. He had been woken by a series of almighty screams in the night that sounded as if someone… or something… was in the room with him. I smiled to myself at the memory. He had never heard a vixen’s mating scream before, but it was easily identified thanks to Youtube.
“It is too early for mating, surely?” he had asked.
“Not really. Any cubs conceived now would not be born until the onset of spring.”
“I suppose…”
I was watching the magpies drive off the crows from ‘their’ tree as I spoke. The magpies are already rebuilding their nest. Red kites are tumbling through the skies in what looks like a mating flight and hares are dancing in the fields.
Daffodils are growing… some already have buds. Crocuses are coming up, drifts of snowdrops fill the churchyards and village greens. There are catkins on the trees and even the roses, that have barely finished flowering, are unfurling new leaves.
In spite of the bitter cold, anyone would think it was spring.
We have not yet had a winter… not that I’m complaining… and we are told the worst is still to come. Yet there are flying insects and clouds of midges. The seasons seem all out of kilter, but no doubt Mother Nature knows what she is doing, even while we scrabble around making predictions and getting them wrong.
While the dog yearns for snow, I would be quite happy to give winter a miss this year. Even so, I like the unpredictability of Nature. The earth moves, grows and flowers at its own pace and there is not a great deal we can do to change that.
Every day, as I watch the sun rise, I feel myself part of the vastness of creation… small, insignificant, but a part of the whole. Nature will do as she chooses and, although we speak of her weather as we might a wayward child, she has all the wisdom of a venerable grandmother. I like the daily reminder that some things are still bigger than us, no matter how advanced we think we are.
We all have significance no matter how small. Beautiful post.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The universe would be different were any one of us not part of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing, Jaye x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful way to start the week!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trouble is that we could end it with snow 😕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not a chance!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hope you’re right 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
A lovely reminder that winter is leaving us. We may still have cold, frosty days. We may still have snow, but Spring is coming. Yay.
On the subject of the vixen’s call, I remember my son, when he was ub his mid or late teens, coming home one night after visiting his friends. He said, “Mum, is there an animal that sounds like a woman screaming? Because if there isn’t, I’ve just heard someone being murdered.”
Having grown up in the countryside, I could assure him that what he’d heard was a vixen. Relief all round!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not far of what Nick thought was happening when he heard the vixen. He was rather relieved when I played the call for him online 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Daffodils!!?!? I can’t believe you have even a few signs of spring. The temperature here today is -21 celcius, -33 with the windchill. It’s been freezing cold for days and this past weekend we had our first snow storm of the winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And we complain when the temeperature drops below -2…
But the daffys are coming up nicely 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
No such luck here 😪
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stay warm, Fransi!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the plan Sue 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lovely post. I’m with Ani though… I’mhoping for a good snow before Spring really takes hold.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a feeling we might get it…
LikeLike
Yeah. I’m just hoping it’s not going to come while I’m in hospital and can’t go out and play in it. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can understand that 😉
LikeLike
Snowdrops are appearing and other things are pushing through the soil but this morning it was so cold I was convinced our heating had stopped working! The only thing stopping me from totally sinking into the winter blues is the nightly murmuration. It is so beautiful and utterly mesmerising. I fear if it gets much colder here, they’ll move off to Ireland.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ve been watching the starlings here too. I have hope of spring beating the weather while they are still here…
LikeLike
I remember the first time I heard mating foxes, and I thought a child was being attacked!
It continues to be mild, though the Met Office say a cold spell is coming. Frosty mornings only so far, but I can live with those. I saw some shoots of some description in one of the gardens along The Avenue. Should be interesting to see what pops up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Everything seems to be popping up around here… but the weather is not looking promising…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what worries me…………
LikeLiked by 2 people
It has been a mild winter in my woods too, Sue. I think part of humankind’s fascination with weather, and nature in general, is that it’s something over which we have no control. There’s something mesmerizing about that. Lovely post. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that the weather can put us in perspective 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Springing to life… | Ann Writes Inspiration
Oh, yea, you’re speaking my language. 😉 We humans are always trying to control the uncontrollable – Nature just laughs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are not much bette than kids playing with Mum’s lipstick 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Winter has skipped by us too … famous last words though, eh? 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, it is not spring yet, no matter what the daffodils think 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel the same way, Sue. Is it that I pay attention with greater appreciation now that I’m older? Whatever the reason, it keeps me paying closer attention, and feeling very grateful. I just hope I never hear the mating cry of a Vixen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Listen on YouTube, Jennie…then you’ll know how Nick felt when he thought it was in his room 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Listen and have nightmares? I will summon the courage. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person