And it has left Green and Gardens sprinkled with a bit of snow! Ok, its not exactly the top of Everest in midwinter, but it looks pretty and reminds us that it is Winter, not Spring. I hope that the poor butterfly that suddenly emerged from hibernation in our kitchen and flew out the window on a recent day of sunshine realised its mistake and has found another hidey hole.
John Clare wrote a poem about how deceptive the sunshine of February can be. This is from the poem "February" in his "Shepherd's Calendar". It begins:
"The snow is gone from cottage tops...
The sun peeps through the window pane
Which children mark wi laughing eye
And to the wet street steal again
To tell each other spring is nigh..."
and it ends:
"Nature soon sickens of her joys-
And all is sad and dumb again
Save merry shouts of sliding boys
About the frozen furrowed plain
The foddering boy forgets his song
And silent goes wi folded arms
And croodling shepherds bend along
Crouching to the whizzing storms."
Snow is beautiful and fun, but not so much if you have to be out there making a living in it - be you man or butterfly. I hope our butterfly is croodling somewhere, i.e. huddled together with other butterflies for warmth.
When God's Kingdom rules over the earth, all will be back into the perfect balance that prevailed in Eden. How it will be, we don't know. How to achieve it for ourselves, we certainly do not know! As Jeremiah, speaking under inspiration, so rightly warns us: "It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step." But we can be sure it will be wonderful, not just for us, but for all the earthly creation. And for all the heavenly creation too. They will rejoice to see paradise restored.
We had a flurry of emails with Linda yesterday - ex-Planet Expat - and, talking of old friends, it seems there may be a Whatsapp conference coming up - USA, to UK, to Thailand - reuniting some of us Newcastle Uni Alumni. It will be a shock given some of us haven't seen each other for - gulp - 50 years.
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