Ponderings from the Polytunnel

Seasonal nostalgia

My small Christmas tree is suitably festooned and this year I have NOT had to lash it to the table! “Explain yourself”, I hear you cry! I have the pleasure of being owned by a cat who is part feral and calls herself Holly – very seasonal – she chose the name. At only two months old, I became her third ‘owner’ after she had been abandoned to a rescue centre for ‘attacking children’. She did a lot of damage to the furniture but hey – it’s only furniture. She literally climbed the walls and had unpredictable outbursts of aggression towards the hand that loved her. For years, there seemed to be a part of her that I just couldn’t reach but we understand each other a lot better now. As I say, for the first time in our 10 years of cohabitation, I have not had to protect my poor tree from her feral outbursts of tree hatred. As I watch her gazing curiously at the sparkly adornments, wondering why at certain times of the year, I choose to treat her so cruelly with these temptations, it got me thinking. Wait for it….

Those of us who are blessed to experience the seasons in all their glory, also get to experience a nostalgia and sentimentality that is attached to each one. The natural world is just going through its’ cyclical thing; winter is just another sparse time for the plants and critters to endure. But for us – every time the natural world enters a different season, memories and feelings are evoked and traditions revised; building the foundation blocks for our lives; contributing to who we are and how we interact with life. I’m sure the shivering robin and the burrowed badger don’t attach such sentimentalities to their survival.

This Christmas, the building blocks of experiences are going to be hard ones to lay down for so many. I wonder if creation has a sense of what we’re going through? Even my chickens, aka ‘the girls’, are now living in lockdown land because of the bird flu (I’m having a heck of a job putting their face coverings on- tee hee!)

However you are able to mark this Christmas, it’s my sincere hope that you experience the Reason for the Season in a very real way. We have all been created for purpose and promise. When you can only see clouds in the sky, it’s hard to believe the sun is still shining. But as surely as spring follows winter, we will know the warmth and joy of coming out of this difficult time. What was once a destructive force of nature, appearing to be untameable, is now my faithful companion, with a fantastic sense of fun. Holly and I send you all seasons’ blessings in this year that has ended in TIERS!