Seven years of January days
When I was a child I longed to live in New England. I had a beloved aunt who lived in Rye in New Hampshire who visited us every year, bearing books and telling stories of snowy winters and hot summers. I loved the idea of such different seasons. They sang out for me vividly in comparison with the grey green summers and the grey black winters of home. But one thing that we do have in the United Kingdom, and very much so here in Wales, is a real variety. Summer can be hot, or not. Winter can be snowy, or mild. I have come to love that unpredictability so I thought I would look back on seven Januaries to see what it has been like up here. Here is January 2009, the hills white and the snow drifted up against the hawthorn hedge in the kitchen garden. More snow in 2010 with the outdoor furniture under the yew tree cushioned in snow. Ian usually puts it away but the snow must have beaten him to it! I love the dome of snow on the t...