Spring has sprung ?

Better weather has brought out the snowdrops. The woods around the village now  carpeted in them. Give it a few more days and the daffodils will also be in bloom. We seem to have moved from the depths of a long ,cold and dark winter into an early and balmy spring. Faced with glorious sunshine we briefly consider cancelling next weeks trip to Lisbon but decide against it. Cancelling hotels and flights is just as much of a chore as booking them.

Three larks hover over the grass by the shore. Earlier in the week there was just the  one. We marvel at the way in which such small birds manage to make so much noise. From the bluff we can see all the way down the estuary to the spires of the cathedral. The pack of eleven deer that call the fields around us home have split into two. There's a larger group of eight and a smaller one of three adolescents. The group of three are down by the water grazing contentedly on seaweed.

At the dentist I'm offered a variety of stress reduction options. This offer seems a little OTT for a scaling. The dentists waiting room is decorated in those tasteful shades of grey beloved by all branches of health care. I'm not sure about the black chairs and sofa.  They have a funereal air.

There's a professor of modern political theory in the waiting room. While we wait we chat. He's reading a report from the Munich Security Conference and observes that all members of the Trump administration get standing ovations when they speak. This, it seems, is neither genuine nor spontaneous. The things you learn in dental waiting rooms.  I'd have to say that 'inducing' others to stand is really rather clever psychology.

Dentist over we go to the cafe on the beach for a bacon roll. The warm weather has brought out families and dogs. The place is already a zoo and the day's barely started.

Resilient cows :https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/how-five-abandoned-cows-conquered-a-remote-volcanic-island/

Wuthering Heights. The critics have panned it but the audiences love it :https://jonathanbate.substack.com/p/wuthering-heights

Cosmic rays :https://www.space.com/science/particle-physics/scientists-hunt-for-origins-of-the-mysterious-sun-goddess-particle

Dogs and dentists :https://www.statnews.com/2026/01/28/dental-anxiety-eased-by-therapy-dogs/