Country Mouse

Life’s little certainties

IT’S 2019—who would have thought it? How on earth did we get here? The false terrors of the millennium bug are almost two decades past and, as we all know now, it was an exercise in fear of absolutely nothing. It did, however, make a few IT types ludicrously rich. This year promises political chaos. We will also, as with the millennium bug, all survive. It’s probably the only certainty.

Of far greater comfort is the certainty of Nature. The snowdrops shoots have burst out of dank earth beneath the still golden-clad beech hedge. Near the back door, my daffodils are well on their way to flowering and the corkscrew hazel is bedecked with lamb’s tails.

Nature could not care a jot for politicians, but it does care for the changing seasons. Everything has its time and its place and we are particularly thankful for the spindle trees, witch hazel, aconites and snowdrops that bloom when all else is dormant.

The New Year is a resurrection, a new beginning—a time to take stock and think about improvements. It is also, for me, a time to take a moment to appreciate what we already have and be eternally grateful. MH