PRIMAVERA

I went on an afternoon walk yesterday. You know what? I think I saw the first signs of Spring! Whisper it carefully though; there are still days of thick frost and frozen rain to come, for certain.

But at the moment, the sky is bright and blue and hopeful. The sun lights the trees, and there are little robins hopping around in the branches. I really like the way the shadows look so clean, under the eaves of the houses, diagonal cut lines across the grass, throwing those wintry trunks into shade. The houses look bright and fresh in this kind of light too. It’s almost as though the Spring in the air is itself, a glimpse of the summer seaside yet to come.

I’m getting married in the Spring. It all feels a bit real now, and weirdly complicated. As many of you know, a wedding is a very different thing when you’re on the inside of it, when it’s happening to you. It’s a disconcerting mix of joy, hopefulness, apprehension and worry. It’s all a good thing though - in lots of ways I’m looking forward to being married, much more than getting married, and I suppose that is really how it should be. And the sky is showing me that the first day of that is soon, and that’s exciting.

The Italians and the Spanish call it ‘Primavera’ which comes from the Latin for ‘first spring’ - I really like this. The first opening, or leaping of life, bursting from the wintry soil! We’re not quite there yet; I’ve not seen the snowdrops, let alone the crocuses and daffodils, but the weather is whispering to us, ‘It’s on its way’…

I’d like to write more about how the pandemic has changed my brain. The metaphor is winter - forcing us into isolation and depression like the White Witch in the wardrobe. I think I’ll save it for another time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if future studies show that our way of thinking - about everything - was altered as a species, perhaps far more than we realised at the time. 

If I might stretch the metaphor then: to see the ice drip from the sunlit trees and to smell the grass and see the blue sky, is a reminder that, well… that Aslan is on the move. And hope is stirring.