A Day of Four Seasons

Today we had all the year's seasons in twenty four hours.

The drumming of the rain on the bedroom window during the night was interwoven with dreams, while the wind whistled through the silver birches and moaned round the eaves.
We wakened up to dark grey skies and stair rods of rain with the Cairngorms dusted on the high tops with fresh snow.
But, as we waited, the skies cleared, the rain stopped and we put on our walking boots to walk up the track ( Cycle route 7) behind the steading to catch the view over the valley. It was cold with a wind chill more reminiscent of winter.

To warm up afterwards, the Mountain cafe in Aviemore beckoned for the last cake of the holiday, and while we munched and defrosted, the skies blackened again and a torrential shower with hail thrown in for good measure swept across from the Monadhliaths obscuring all the mountains.

Safe to leave eventually when the skies cleared and the sun appeared, we drove to look at the little church of Alvie and Insh standing on the shores of Loch Alvie and casting a beguiling image to drivers on the old A9.

The little graveyard surrounding the church was a peaceful haven with the sunshine dappling the grass between the moss covered headstones. We spent just enough time there before the heavens opened again with hail bouncing off the car windscreen as we made our way home.

Now out of the wind and indoors, the sun shining through the windows is giving the impression of a summer's day.

I feel as though this week of unseasoable May weather has been some sort of divine retribution for our April summer.