Back to normal

The snow has melted away and everywhere looks a bit battered but is recovering quickly. The birds are happy again and wonderful to watch. I have a tiny wren who comes to visit as well as a chaffinch and the usual blue tits. It will be interesting to see what other species arrive.

The wind is blowing hard too, blowing away all the negative energies left by frustrated motorists and people like me who could not get out without the help of others during the heavy snow. It is at times like this when snow is on the ground and it is icy cold, that we need others to help. Community spirit is sadly lacking in many places but comes together whenever there is some kind of catastrophe. This is good but we should not need a catastrophe before we work together as a community. The old extended family system has long gone and friends now make up this system. Without them we can be stuck inside with no one to talk to. Telephones and chat on sites like Facebook are no real substitute for face to face contact. Do you look out for vulnerable people, not just during the winter but all through the year? Caring about others is part of the way I see my druid path especially now that I am older and can appreciate the difficulties that older people have. In some areas there are befriending groups and this is a good idea. What can you do to help the vulnerable ones amongst you?

Snow and more snow

It has been a cold week with lots of snow and ice. Although I am confined to the house as I can’t walk on ice very well and don’t want to fall over as I can’t then get up again, I have seen some magical sights during the week. One morning all the spiders webs were covered in ice and they were absolutely beautiful. Another morning, when the sun rose, the trees turned a pink colour and they were beautiful too. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

The snow brings to my mind other concerns. Flights are cancelled and trains but why do we travel so much? Why do we have to go so far for social gatherings and meetings?  How did people move around before trains and planes? What effect does all the travelling have on our planet? If we were not so reliant on gas and oil maybe the recent events in Algeria would not have happened. There is lots of food for thought here. How large is your carbon footprint? And how can you reduce its size? As a druid I try to use public transport and don’t go very far as I don’t need to. If I could walk like I did several years ago, then I would walk most of the time. Ecological awareness is a good thing to have.

Now enjoy the morning sun on the bare trees.

Signs of Spring

I woke up this morning to a slight covering of snow. But earlier in the week I had been walking around my garden. This garden is of course new to me so I do not yet know what joys it holds. In one corner by the shed, a sheltered spot, I noticed several bulbs poking their green shoots through the ground. Some look like crocuses and others like daffodils but of course there could be snowdrops. I love to see the signs of spring bringing with them the promise of warmer days and shorter nights. But here we are with winter snow and more to come. It always seems a bit of a paradox to me that here we are in the winter yet spring is showing signs of its arrival. In the UK the snow tends to come in January and February so this is quite normal for us.

But the snow is always beautiful, glistening in the sunshine and unless we have a lot more it will soon be gone. The birds are still chattering in the trees and they seem to be finding lots of insects to eat despite the cold weather. But the sight of the bulb shoots gives me hope as we see the changes in our world. Nature keeps going whatever we throw at it and so should we keep going, hoping and working to change things that are wrong or do not fit with what our lives should be. Look for the signs of spring in your garden. What can you see now?

This weeks photo was taken by my son some years ago in France during a heavy snowfall. It has been on here before but I rather like it.

New Year Resolutions?

A new calendar year has dawned and many people make New Year Resolutions. I, myself, do not do this any more but I do make plans.

I look back at what I achieved during the last 12 months and decide how to move forward in the coming 12 months. Having just moved house, this includes practical plans such as buying items, disposing of other items and replacing some items for the house.

But most of my thoughts about the next 12 months revolve around my spiritual life.

What can I do to show others that there is a different way of living their lives?

What can I do to enhance my art and craft work?

There are many who say you should concentrate on the ‘now’ not the future’ but tomorrow’s ‘now’ is today’s ‘future’. I look at what I want to do and ‘see’ myself actually doing that thing. I concentrate on this vision of doing what I want to be doing and so far it seems to work. So I ‘see’ myself sitting in the conservatory painting landscapes in acrylics. I’ll let you know how this goes in the next few weeks. Below is an oil painting done a few years ago of a mountain landscape somewhere in the Lake District.