By Bernie Bell

Pics by McB

March the Twenty-sixth………..I said…..”Yes……I like it……but……what?”  Mike said…….”Mad March Pussies!”  Fair enough…….

It looks like a Dr. Who monster to me…what does it look like to you?

March the Twenty-seventh………Mike needed to go into ICIT for something, and saw his desk calendar – just as he left it when he came home to work in March 2020 – that felt a bit strange.

Mike’s idea of doing this ‘One Day At A Time’, was to find at least one thing in each day to appreciate, enjoy or wonder at.  For today he chose the calendar from March last year as a reminder of time passing.  But it could also have been….

1)      First thing in the morning – A wild thing in our garden – a heron by the pond. Standing stock still, then pacing along the side in a stately manner.  He is a fine beast.

Or………

2)      A treacle tart, made at Birsay Bay Tearooms  https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/11/20/a-little-bit-of-orkney-history-that-i-hadnt-known-before/,  and bought at the Bayleaf Deli in Stromness as part of the Saturday shopping  https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/07/22/the-bayleaf-stromness/ . I had a piece after my tea and it was beautiful – just – beautiful.

Three things from the day, as well as a bit of gardening in the sunshine. No’ bad.

“Man is made for bliss and woe

And if this we rightly know

Through the world

We safely go”

William Blake

March the Twenty-eighth……Scapa Bay……sunshine….wind-surfers….dog-walkers….what a day…..

March the Twenty-ninth…….Our neighbour’s geese are laying again…..you can make a whole omelette out of one of their eggs!

March the Thirtieth……….Scillas between the showers – still glowing…..

March the Thirty-first…………..Early in the morning…..a thrush…singing its heart out on a sycamore tree………..

“Some blessed hope whereof he knew, and I was unaware….” – Thomas Hardy.

April the First!…………..In the summer he disappears into the foliage.  In the winter he re-emerges.  This time of year the leaves are starting to grow round him again……

He’s The Green Man – Nature Spirit. We call him Tom Bombadil.  He smiles, and raises a smile.