Cycle of the Seasons

Last night I finished reading Sue Gee's Earth & Heaven. I really enjoyed the painterly, impressionistic style, which I think nicely captures the cultural mood of the period. It's about a family during the inter-war period and their creative and relationship struggles, moving from their student days at art school in London to family-life in Kent. It manages to capture both the atmosphere of the art-scene in the city and the slower rhythms of life in the countryside really beautifully. But what I liked most about it was the way it conveyed the continuity of nature and the perpetual cycle of the seasons. In spite of the hardships suffered by this family - the grinding poverty, the grief, the unfulfilled longing - there is a sense that nature just carries on; that spring will always follow winter. 

As I walked through the park today - in the January drizzle - I tried to think about the cycle of the seasons. It helped.