Skies Full Of Snow And Cold Fingers

Winter Returns To The Fens


   If I had a pound for every time people ask why I enjoy living out here in the strange flat world of the fens then I'd be one very rich guy, the answer is hard to explain but mornings such as this one are a big part of it. Sitting here looking out across the wild frost covered fenland's that stretch out for miles behind us, it's dark soil now wearing lace caps on the peaks left by the winter plough and cock pheasant that strut over the winter barley, a raw morning of winter but one I love, some would prefer the summer mornings when the early sunshine lights the world of nature but for me these cold months when hands never seem to warm and frost will sit all day are just as interesting.
   When most think of the fens their thoughts turn to reed beds, sedges and willows along with swans, geese and barn owl, they see the dark rich soil that holds hardly a stone and drain that runs for miles as straight as an arrow and don't get me wrong they are all a big part of life here, but for me there are so many more things that I watch and the change of seasons can be no more severe than here in the fens and droves of east Anglia.
   I feel the only thing missing from the countryside I enjoyed back in Hertfordshire is woodland, the lack of trees here in the fens is very obvious to my eyes and I guess the those strong tough winds that we ride on even the best summer days are a huge part of the reason why. Since we moved here I've set a few trees here in the garden and already they have changed the look of our surroundings and of course with this we get greater numbers of garden birds, I guess it's my own little part of Hertfordshire, the backdrop to natures theatre that performs for me all year.
   Now with the sky full of snow I'm heading off to my torch and a warm barn in which I'll be working until this evening, I'll be watching for snow as I work and I'm sure if it does arrive this big kid will find an excuse to get out there in it !