That was a strange winter wasn’t it? It started late and seemed to finish early. Unlike last year, where we had snow and freezing days from October until April, this year’s winter was very mild, with February being the warmest on record. Of course, that makes me worry about global warming.

Who couldn’t be concerned that last year we skipped autumn and spring and seemed to have only two seasons. A hot summer 2017 then a freezing winter 17/18, then a hot summer 18, and then into winter again.

A humid, odd, grey winter with too many very mild days. We went through the highest number of storms on record. When the clocks went forward it just felt odd and disconcerting.

The mild temperatures didn’t help with the winter gloom though. That heavy oppression that descends when one grey day heads into the next and everything seems like hard work as a result. Give me a freezing cold, sharp, bright blue skied day and I feel alive. But grey days seep into my soul. Climate change makes more grey days. I even painted the front of my house green to see if it could it break the monotony of the greys, creams and dreariness that surrounds us. I know a woman who lives beside the sea who loves grey days because it makes the sea interesting and it doesn’t hurt her eyes. I cannot be empathic. I hate a run of greyness and it seems this weird mild winter was nothing but grey. It makes the global catastrophe of the planet being warmed and polluted to the point of oblivion feel very near. 

But today there is a blue sky and suddenly everything seems possible. The pinks and whites of the spring blossoms on the Trees seem to have cleaned up their act and decorate the roads as if to tell us to take heart. The birds are in full swing gathering everything to build nests as if they are building their fortress against the change in nature’s environment. And it gives heart.

Since we got rid of our cat we have blackbirds, starlings and robins nesting in our garden. The blackbirds in our bamboo nest first, make little noise and are very discreet. The robins are of course making a total song and dance of their house building in our ivy. A neighbour’s cat has taken to sitting on our wall watching them. But they have chosen their spot well. Too high for our dog who has given up barking at them, and too low for the reach of the cat. I swear they have done it on purpose just to annoy the both of them. The starlings are the gurriers that nest everywhere and even go twice a year, taking the blackbirds’ nest when they are done with it. The jack russell got one of the chicks last year as it was trying its first flight. The rest looked on for a second and then took off without a second glance. 

Nature is trying its very best to battle against man made climate change. Our species, most responsible for it, stubbornly refuses to make the required changes to ensure our collective survival. And yet we love blue skies, changing seasons and seeing nature in its rhythm doing its thing. And we call the animals dumb.