The power of Nature

Last night we had a bonkers storm here.  I lay awake for hours listening to her chucking ice at us & wrenching the night apart with crashing thunderbolts.  Lightning seem to spark through every window.  When I peered out the window as the day began, there were piles of sleet & ice laying on the ground.  I had to chuckle as we had talked earlier in the day about the weather.  Snow was forecast & we had all said, sagely, ‘oh no, it’s too warm for snow’, ‘the time for snow & ice has passed’ & other such nonsense…

When will we learn not to underestimate Nature?  I’ve felt her power as we’ve worked on the land.  That’s the bonus of all this hard graft – close connection to the earth.  Look at this beautiful rock, covered with the prettiest, most delicate lichen:

And the earth that we struggle to lift with hands and shovels is being worked & broken up by these amazing creatures:

Charles Darwin said of them:

“It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures”

And Amy Stewart wrote a whole book on them…

Nature has the power to drive me crazy too.  We’ve been kept company by a whole variety of birdlife as we dig and sweat.  Robins, Redstarts, Blackcaps, Blackbirds & majestic birds of prey.  The Robins particularly have been tormenting me – perching close by, pushing out their beautiful red breasts, eyeing the camera cockily & dodging every shot!

I leave you with a green beauty – a wild euphorbia, I think…