And now at last it is getting cold

Thursday 2nd February

After one of the mildest Januarys I can remember, February has come in with a blast.  A blast of cold air from the East too. And just by con-incidence, yesterday I saw my first daffodils of the year, on February the first too, that must be a record.  I think they had been fooled by all the mild weather that spring was really here; a mistake a lot of us may have made too.  They looked a bit sad to be honest, it was bitterly cold, the wind was blowing bits of litter around and these few early daffodils seemed lost in the cold wind, looking around expecting to see their fellows, all with their yellow heads dancing, only to see that most were keeping their heads down and closed up, hunkered down out of the wind.

But despite the cold, maybe in fact because of it, I feel that we need it. We need it to remind us that life can be hard; a constant struggle against the elements, and we need the winter to remind us that it won’t always be cold, that the Spring will come soon.  I always think how sad for those who choose to winter abroad, in their Spanish villa’s that are actually too hot to go to in the height of summer, that they should miss our winter frosts, when the grass is a field of spikes, each blade with its own crystal coat of ice, and your breath comes out in watery cloud-puffs in front of you, and your nose and ears tingle when you get back indoors. And as I get older, I almost don’t feel the cold so much as I used to.  At least when I am out walking, I hate a cold draughty house.  I almost relish the wind trying to finds a way in past my defences’, between the buttons of my coat or where my sleeve doesn’t quite meet my gloves.  The way the ice in those shallow puddles cracks when you tread on it, and the way there is a frosty sheen on the metal railings, a thin patina of ice that is almost dull in its opaque smoothness. And so far we haven’t had any snow even, a few lonely flakes drifting around looking for somewhere to settle and then deciding it wasn’t quite time yet. A bit like the Winter itself, hesitant, tentative and unsure of itself, testing us and making us wait a while this year, but my old friend Winter is here at last.  Â