I felt absolutely shattered today. I don’t think it’s due to any one thing, just an accumulation of stresses and strains, at work and elsewhere. It happens, and is probably to be expected, under the current circumstances.
But it’s Friday and I drove home this evening with a car boot full of Aldi’s finest groceries and some comforting tunes playing on the radio. Home made curry and two days of relaxation and recuperation to look forward to.
Just as I walked out of work this evening, and headed across to my car, I was conscious again of how the daylight is staying with us noticeably longer now. Nearly 6pm and it was still reasonable. And my eye caught on to a splash of bright white in the fading light. A medium sized hawthorn bush sat in the grass on the edge of the field, sheltered by a larger, more established group of trees and shrubs.
It was glowing, as if it had soaked up loads of sunlight from earlier and was now radiating it from its own store. It was a really positive vision to end a challenging day and week. Just a few yards away a scattering of mangled pigeon feathers with no carcass to be seen.
Symbolic, I thought. Death and new life. Darkens and light. Out with the old in with the new, etc. I could get particularly cheesy and talk of ‘hope from despair’ but that would be really pushing the metaphor. Let’s just say it was a bright end to a tiring week, and leave it at that. Another wonderful reminder that spring is most certainly knocking on the door.
The Bald Birder 