Stars and snow

We dodged gritter lorries on our way home from Brownies this evening. In the icy darkness we counted the stars and pointed out Orion’s belt. The radio news reports are full of snow in Scotland and the North of England. On my placement today, one of my patients told me about the foxes that visit her garden. There is a whole family of them. She is housebound and watching them play gives her a great deal of joy. I told her about the fox I came across on my early morning bike ride yesterday. My bike lights reflected in its eyes before it whisked off into the undergrowth, leaving me with only a fleeting impression of pointy ears and a bushy tail. My route was strewn with branches from the gale at the weekend. And didn’t it blow? We braved a walk across muddy fields with the children, wrapped up in hats and gloves. The wind whipped our words out of our mouths almost before we had said them. We opted for a necessary detour to a pub with a roaring fire where we warmed our chapped cheeks and chilled fingers. What did I tell you? Far too soon to be getting excited about green, growing things!