I have woken up this morning to a white frost and a blanket of fog over the village.  I knew it was going to be cold last night because of the beautiful sunset shortly after 4 pm when we were walking our dog along the farm track yesterday.  This is our favourite walk to take on a daily basis, and it is also very popular with a number of our neighbours.  I think I have had more socially-distanced daily conversations with my neighbours this year than I can remember ever having before, probably because we are not all racing around in our cars going to work, shopping, visiting friends or just living what used to be our normal lives.  And the quality of those conversations has been deeper as we have genuinely enquired after each other’s well-being and asked whether our neighbours need any practical support.

Every time I walk along the farm track, I am struck by the beauty of nature and the changing seasons in the rolling hills of south Warwickshire.  Nature really has helped to keep us more positive during this most exceptional of years.  The frost on the grass, the dark sloes clinging to the bare hedgerows, the charm of goldfinches perching precariously on the birdfeeder immediately outside our kitchen window, seeing one’s breath condense in the cold air, walking through the crispy, crunchy leaves on the ground – all these help to remind me that this is a season which passes, and there is a pleasure to be found in the little things around us.

I understand why people are feeling particularly apprehensive about the coming winter, but autumn and winter do provide us with a different experience outdoors, not to mention snuggling down inside in an armchair with a good book, a hot drink and some scented candles - you can’t have too many candles in my opinion!  The Danes refer to this indoor hibernating cosiness as hygge, the Norwegians describe it as koselig, and they have learnt to make a virtue out of the long, cold Scandinavian winter.  Just talking about it is enough to make me want to fetch my thick Norwegian jumpers out of the wardrobe! 

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 94) summed this up in his poem ‘Winter’:

In rigorous hours, when down the iron lane

The redbreast looks in vain

For hips and haws,

Lo, shining flowers upon my window-pane

The silver pencil of the winter draws.

When all the snowy hill

And the bare woods are still;

When snipes are silent in the frozen bogs,

And all the garden garth is whelmed in mire,

Lo, by the hearth, the laughter of the logs –

More fair than roses, lo, the flowers of fire!

This year is sadly not as enjoyable as every other winter because we can’t invite other people round to share the warmth of hospitality with us, and that is particularly tough for those who live by themselves.  But with talk of vaccines on the way, let’s pray that we are going to be able to enjoy the company of friends and family before too long, and never again take for granted that simple pleasure of sitting together with others. 

 Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 25^th November 2020             sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk