Above my head the throaty, noise of a helicopter. I almost feel like ducking.

Then I remind myself that I am, fortunately, not living in a war zone. The news from Ukraine is grim with news reports on the one o’clock radio news almost too hard to bear. Worse to live in the reality. Beautiful cities destroyed and thousands of beautiful lives destroyed too. War is hell. I carry on walking across the footpath and all around are green shoots pushing up through the earth. Then, as I pass my friend’s house I stop to admire the Firethorn bushes