Friday 26 April 2013

A Possible Article for a Newspaper.

Taking your advice to heart I have written about what is familiar to me; what I know most about.   I have written a Nature Diary entry.  It is one of the first things I read in the newpaper every day.   In the days when I took the Guardian it was always William Condry I enjoyed reading.   In the Times it is Derwent May.   So here is one possibility for Wednesday's Writers' Meeting.   I may well write several more before the day and choose that I like the most.   By the very nature of the entry it has to be short - so this one is under three hundred words.  What do you think?

Winter pays an unwelcome visit this morning, and - like an uninvited guest who turns up at a party- we try to include it in whatever we are doing and pretend we don't mind.

The blackbird continues to forage on the lawn and in the hedge back for the final touches to the nest; the weeping cherry, whose blossoms are just emerging, looks as though it wishes it had waited for another week; I put on a couple of extra layers and venture out into the garden to replant a stone trough I emptied yesterday.

Just to emphasise its arrival, Winter chooses this moment to throw down a sharp, sleety shower and I hasten indoors, preceded by the black farm cat who does his level best to trip me up and reminds me that he has just eaten a baby rabbit and that eating rabbits is thirsty work.   His friend, the cream farm cat, who is far too shy to show himself, waits round the corner to share the saucer of milk they know I will put out.

Once again Spring is on hold.   Not for the first time this year the sheep shelter with their new-born lambs up against the stone walls.   Once they get a good feed of their mother's milk these hardy fell lambs will stand everything that Winter throws at them now that April is here and it is not long before the lambs can't resist a dash up the field.   They run in a flock to the far side, stand a minute and then run back - just for the sheer joy of it.

Yes, Winter has returned and the North wind has picked up - but surely this is its dying gasp - the sun is high and it has some warmth in it and sure as night follows day the Spring will win in the end.   

13 comments:

Gwil W said...

We have a lovely summery day. By the way there's a lunar eclipse tonight. Starts 9:52pm Austrian time. Seems to be of short duration just 30 mins or so.

Hildred said...

Lovely word image, Pat. It brings to my mind's eye the lambs we used to raise, running to the tops of the manure heaps, jumping and clapping their heels together, and then away around the barnyard.

Gerry Snape said...

great images Pat. And I think you are right...it's the dying gasp of that harsh winter that we had!

Cloudia said...

Timeless & worthy!


Aloha

dixie heath said...

I enjoyed reading it and I could imagine in my minds eye all that you spoke of. Lilacs are blooming here in Ohio USA and we have a lovely spring day. The yellow dandelions are so pretty against the green grass. Our woods is blooming with white dogwoods and redbuds. It is cold still at night but warms up well in the daytime to 60's and 70's. This is a beautiful time of year with everything renewing itself. I can hear the different birds chirping out their songs. Loved the article

dixie heath said...

I enjoyed reading it and I could imagine in my minds eye all that you spoke of. Lilacs are blooming here in Ohio USA and we have a lovely spring day. The yellow dandelions are so pretty against the green grass. Our woods is blooming with white dogwoods and redbuds. It is cold still at night but warms up well in the daytime to 60's and 70's. This is a beautiful time of year with everything renewing itself. I can hear the different birds chirping out their songs. Loved the article

Heather said...

Delightful. I am not qualified to offer any criticism but I could see in my mind the scenes you were describing and your words gave me pleasure as I read them.

The Solitary Walker said...

I enjoyed this too, Pat, and it created an immediate picture. All it needs. perhaps, is just a little tidying up here and there (first 'back' sounds a little clumsy; two 'backs' in last two sentences of penultimate para; a couple of commas before 'and' in the longer sentences may improve them; perhaps you could tell us what you replanted the stone trough with? Great stuff!

John Going Gently said...

A warm day here too...springlike and welcoming....... A day I would have liked to have tea with you on the lawn

MorningAJ said...

That's perfect. You chose a part of the newspaper you read and understand, and you wrote in the appropriate style. You can submit that with confidence. Well done.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the encouragement and thank you to Robert for the criticisms - you are quite right and I have amended the copy. Funnily enough I reread it last night and altered one of them myself. Sometimes you only see clumsy writing after several hours of deliberation.

Em Parkinson said...

It's freezing here today (Saturday). One degree this morning and that North wind is blasting everything in its path. I feel for you!

Golden West said...

Outstanding!