Waking up

Everywhere I look in the countryside it seems as if the world is waking up after snoozing through the winter. As well as lots of spring bulbs, the hedges are starting to green up and the trees to come into leaf. The early blossom has arrived (the photo is of blackthorn taken on Sunday) and the fruit trees will soon follow. On Sunday I saw the first butterfly of the summer, a yellow brimstone and the birds are all singing their hearts out.

Back in October I wrote that I felt that as all the animals and plants slowed down for the winter perhaps humans should follow suit. Back then I certainly felt like a spell of hibernation. Now that the days are lighter and brighter I feel ready to wake up again! I know I am not the only one who feels as if I have much more energy now than in the darker months and once again I wonder if we should follow the example of the wild birds and animals (and my chickens!) and sleep less and be more active in the summer and then slow down for the winter months.

I go to a yoga class once a week and we are often told to "listen to our bodies and to do as much or as little as feels right for each of us on that particular day". This seems to be very sensible advice as from day to day our energy levels and our motivation to achieve varies greatly. Our modern time-tabled, over scheduled lifestyles don't really allow us to "listen to how we feel" and work, play or rest at times that would be optimum for us.

Maybe in the future as we run out of fossil fuels and can no longer afford to run a 24 hour society throughout the year, we will once again return to a lifestyle that is more in tune with the passing of the seasons.

As for me now, I will take advantage of my raised energy levels to continue planting at the allotment and then maybe some spring cleaning!