Light in the darkness

Today was extraordinary. A taste of spring to lift the spirits. I could see all around that the gloom of late winter had lifted from people, and that others, like me, felt a simple joy in this blessing of sun. But all around the natural world responded in its own way. Snowdrops belied their own name, their natural response to the warmth being to raise their petals up to reveal the green-on-white arrowhead marks that we seldom see. Insects were on the wing, although the year's first bees must have struggled to find pollen and nectar in any quantity. And of course insects brings insect-eaters - bats flicked over my head in the dusk as I cycled home, taking drowsy moths drawn to my lights in the gloom of the lanes. But we all have our own markers of seasons passing, and for us seeing light through the porch of Hellington Church as we pass in the evening means that lighter evenings and warmer weather are coming. For which we are truly grateful.