The timing may vary, but the certainty is heartening. The lengthening days give us cause for optimism. Our shoulders come down after a winter of hunching, our spirits rise and we are assailed by an overwhelming feeling of optimism— things are changing for the better. We know that to assume we are over the worst of the weather is folly: cold snaps often follow mild spells; lowering skies and brimful clouds will appear to dampen our spirits and our tweed, but change is afoot.
A holiday in late January took me to Barbados, where bougainvillea and hibiscus, oleander and gardenia flower all year round. My bones were warmed by the tropical sun and the crystal-clear air and vibrant light intensity were a refreshing pick-me-up after a bitterly cold spell of weather at home. But, after 10 days, I was ready to return and await the arrival of spring.
Surely one of the greatest benefits of living in a cool, temperate climate is the changing of the seasons. ‘Spring is a new beginning,’ wrote the American poet Joan Walsh Anglund and, although the sentiment may be a touch trite for today’s tastes, it is a phrase that invades my mind each and every March. March 1 is regarded as the start of meteorological spring, March 20 is the spring or vernal equinox, when days and nights are of equal length, but it is March 21 that most gardeners and countrymen regard as the beginning of the new season.
この記事は Country Life UK の March 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Country Life UK の March 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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Save our family farms
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A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
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We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
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Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
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After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
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