online: 24 march 2015
modified: 23-24 march 2015

23 march 2015 new life amidst destruction


...lunch outdoors near the 39 steps... looking at a bank of fallen bracken and blackened brambles... where a bumblebee is searching for something... i see a few new blades of grass among many old ones that have survived winter... the trees are still bare...

...on the road below: a sturdy-looking man is running somewhat jerkily but with some determination...

...as sunlight breaks through cloud i see that a wren (or is it a robin?) is inspecting the bracken... the blue sky is half-concealed by fluffy clouds from the Atlantic...

...while getting up to go i pause to copy the inscription on the seat where i was sitting:
FOR JOANNE WHO LEFT IN 1993
FROM JACK WHO ARRIVED IN THE SAME YEAR

...now on a seat in Sandy Heath forest from which i am watching a fully grown heron... just now it's about 25m away... standing by a pond in which irises are sprouting... for about 15 minutes it stood in other positions around the pond.... always completely still (so i kept still also)... once it looked into the water and appeared to catch something... which it kept pecking at for a few minutes... now it's moved out of sight behind a gorse bush... so i'll continue walking...

...the ground is very dry today... fallen leaves and twigs that crackle underfoot... a pleasure to walk on after weeks of muddy wetness...




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