Little things

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

There is a lot going on right now and I'll be the first to admit I am not holding up very well against these waves. My head says that we deal with different things in different ways, my heart says not a lot, and the rest of me says I need to man up. The result of these different points of view is chaos, internal and external.

However small steps are often the most important ones and today I was reminded of the importance of simple things. I've spent a lot of time outside today, outside and with small people. It is, despite my regular instance otherwise, still winter (just). It was grey and damp and blowy out today. It wasn't freezing though, nor was it entirely grey. There were swaths of white and it wasn't snow, there were splashes of yellow dotted here and there. The trees weren't green, they weren't even fluffy, but wrapped up tight in their protective coats are signs of spring. I know because I was showing a little person, well between stirring puddle cauldrons and transforming things with giant stick wands.

Little things are important, taking time out to look for signs of spring, to contemplate the ever changing nature of all around us. Holding on to these little insights is something different. I guess that is the next step. I hope it isn't too big

Stirrings in the darkness

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips it's turn." - Hal Borland

It is that time of year where people think me odder than usual. People sit in there houses seeing only the orange glow of street light or the raindrops running down the panes. They rush from warmth to warmth, hoods and hat pulled low, scarves up to their eyelashes. They shiver as the wind blows and wonder what fright the weather man had in store next. 

Do you know what I saw today? Driving home well after 4pm the trees though stark, were still strikingly silhouetted against a grey, but not yet dark sky. I saw a shade of green that I haven't seen for a good eight months. I saw birds scavenging the garden, the last of the winter berries having been consumed, but new offerings are starting to arrive. I even saw a  tiny splash of yellow, like a scouting party for what is to come. 

If you look closely it is the time of year for seeing tidings of spring.