Spring Equinox

... and there was sunshine, blue sky, a gentle breeze and enough warmth to dry the laundry outside! The garden is full of green shoots, the small cherry plum beside the house is still in bloom, grape hyacinths and flowering currant were brilliantly bright in the sun, and the season's first peacock butterfly alighted on the deck. Day after day, the radio announces record high temperatures in one place or another, a constant, anxious reminder of present and future damage to our climate and weather systems, but after so many weeks of near-daily rain, mist and low light, the brightness was a delight, lifting the spirits as well as the photographs and drawing me outside to pick, trim and tidy.