Oh the false promise of spring

March 13, 2013

Oh the false promise of Spring!  I was bounding along, with a spring in my step and jacket slung over my shoulder, such was the beauty of the day and the clemency of the weather.  Myself and the dogs got right around Two Tree Island without having to negotiate large puddles, retrieve the small dog from even larger puddles and completely circumnavigate the two exceptionally large puddles, which may actually be man-made lakes, thoughtfully added by the council whilst they were diverting the footpath.  ‘Yep’, I thought to myself, ‘the world is looking good’ – even the prospect of lawn mowing season couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm.  It didn’t need to, because the next day, it was raining again. 

It’s interesting that we live in what is, statistically, a few miles from the driest place in the country (Great Wakering, or is it Little Wakering – no matter, size isn’t important).  I can only send sympathy out to people living everywhere else, if, indeed, there are still people living everywhere else who haven’t yet hightailed it in their purpose built ark.  I tried a walk in Belfairs Woods just a couple of weeks ago and wondered whether, in fact, there was some sea reclamation work going on nearby which had rendered these woods an impassable mudbath.  I applaud the addition of a lovely new visitor centre getting built, but perhaps a dry(ish) pathway to actually access it would be a nice touch.

OK, whinge over – there are signs of Spring to be seen, even though the forecast is for subzero temperatures again in a few days time.  I encountered a plethora (probably not the right word, but there were an awful lot of them) of bunnies, doing not much other than sitting looking like bunnies.  Beautiful spring bulbs are bursting forth, shortly before being desecrated by aforementioned bunnies who, it appears, were doing something after all – waiting for bulbs to burst forth.  The council garden waste collection has recommenced (I don’t know if people appreciate how good our waste collection services are – depends if you’ve moved into Leigh from elsewhere, if you have, you probably do appreciate it, yay, we even get free food waste bin liners now!) and the shops are full of Easter goodies; although, to be fair, they’ve been full of Easter goodies since Boxing Day, so that one doesn’t count. 

The ski holiday is done, no bones broken (pride another matter), the days are getting longer (not really getting longer they’re still 24 hours, but the light evenings are welcome) and the temperature is creeping up.  Obviously, it’s a long way to go before the sea is warm enough to dip a toe in – I leave that to the boy anyway, the sea in this country is NEVER warm enough for my toes – but maybe soon it will be time to perhaps indulge in a glass or three of wine on the seafront, albeit it with coat and scarf, to venture forth into the gorgeous countryside surrounding us and maybe, just maybe, shed the thermal tights!

Roll on Summer!