Springing to life…

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Sue Vincent

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.

About Sue Vincent

Sue Vincent was a Yorkshire born writer, esoteric teacher and a Director of The Silent Eye. She was immersed in the Mysteries all her life. Sue maintained a popular blog and is co-author of The Mystical Hexagram with Dr G.M.Vasey. Sue lived in Buckinghamshire, having been stranded there due to an accident with a blindfold, a pin and a map. She had a lasting love-affair with the landscape of Albion, the hidden country of the heart. Sue  passed into spirit at the end of March 2021.
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36 Responses to Springing to life…

  1. quiall says:
    January 21, 2019 at 08:09

    We all have significance no matter how small. Beautiful post.

    Liked by 2 people

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  3. jenanita01 says:
    January 21, 2019 at 08:48

    Wonderful way to start the week!

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. V.M.Sang says:
    January 21, 2019 at 12:07

    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!

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. fransiweinstein says:
    January 21, 2019 at 13:21

    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.

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Victoria Zigler (@VictoriaZigler) says:
    January 21, 2019 at 14:41

    Lovely post. I’m with Ani though… I’mhoping for a good snow before Spring really takes hold.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Mary Smith says:
    January 21, 2019 at 15:03

    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.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. pensitivity101 says:
    January 21, 2019 at 16:03

    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.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. D. Wallace Peach says:
    January 21, 2019 at 18:23

    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. 🙂

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  10. Pingback: Springing to life… | Ann Writes Inspiration

  11. Eliza Waters says:
    January 22, 2019 at 03:16

    Oh, yea, you’re speaking my language. 😉 We humans are always trying to control the uncontrollable – Nature just laughs.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. Widdershins says:
    January 22, 2019 at 03:43

    Winter has skipped by us too … famous last words though, eh? 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Jennie says:
    January 22, 2019 at 23:21

    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!

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