more snow on the way

Hard to guess how many books are written on the need for busy humans to slow down. Shelves in airports and train stations are abulge with them. We snatch one and browse it to fill the time between travel spurts. But then, along comes the snow. And for a time life begins to move again at a gentle pace. The goings-on in our villages and fields cease to be a blur as we are forced into slow and careful movement. The art and babble of conversation returns to the dry stone walls and the hedgerows and the warm snugs of alehouses. Somehow this easiness draws us away from talk of gloom and failure and the growl of worries, pacing in wait for us.

Though it is all very temporary, it is a time of rest, like an extended Sabbath.

It is also a time to look into the eyes of a neighbour and notice the life that is in them. Time to make space for listening to their heartbeat. There is a farmer in a village near us whose wife has passed away. He speaks about his grief and his newly discovered cookery skills. Time spent with this man enlarges our picture of life and its possibilities. There is a much younger farmer who leaves the pub early to get a restful night so that he can go out into the darkness of the winter morning to do his work. He is declaring his dream of following into his father's and grandfather's shoes.

The deep snow reveals to us the slow and rhythmic journey we are all making. If only we would take more notice. More snow on the way in the next few days.