Apparently it’s ‘Blue Monday’ – allegedly the most depressing day of the year… As I have discussed in previous blogs, winter does provide me with a serious list of things about which I can be less than cheerful – the darkness, poor weather, cold, the lack of green leaves and flowers in the garden, the mud; the endless wet, dismal days with no sunshine which seem to loom in an unrelenting groundhog day filled with fog and drizzle… (I guess that’s North Yorkshire for you…) – and all hitting me hard at a time when I am still grieving for my beautiful Mungo.
And yet, despite all this, and despite the fact that I find it increasingly challenging as the years pass, I am still able to find solace in many things… The other three Canine Members of Staff are all excellent mood boosters and make me smile whenever I look at them; the snowdrops are coming up in my wet and muddy garden, and in the woods over the lane; the recent snow and full-moon combination made for some spectacular night-time views; the robin has started singing again, and reminds me that surely Spring can’t be far away.
In fact this latter point is very true, and the Celtic calendar has an upcoming festival in just under two weeks – Imbolc – which celebrates this turning of the year. Whilst things still feel stuck in mud, and we can’t see through the fog, we can surely find genuine solace in this. I’m still dreaming of warmth and sunshine, though…
