Morning

When I woke this morning it was 5am and the sun was shining. In a wild surge of enthusiasm, I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and set off on a walk to start the day.

The weather was beautiful and the countryside here is lovely - there was so much large-scale pleasure for the eyes, but what struck me were the tiny moments of beauty everywhere I looked. Snails scurrying slowly for shelter under the hedges as the sun came up, birds looking afronted that I'd invaded their time and space, even the small feathery tragedies of fox leftovers across the fields. It was beautiful. It all reminded me of Marge Piercy's poem "Private Bestiary" - lines about snails and dolphins and wild love-making... Maybe I'll edit that in here later.

A lovely start to a morning. Now, a couple of hours later, it's gloomy and cold. I think I might have just seized the day while it was there to be seized.