Goodnight friends! Even colder, an acid, glassy -2°c blue the whole day, creeping frost spreading and silvering the ground, gone from rubbery to and almost stone-like crunching hardness. I spotted the same curious bird from a little while back streaking overhead, but this time at a better angle and with the pale gold light of afternoon on its flank. I saw the green belly and blunt red beak in the smear of motion and realised I was seeing a ring-necked parakeet, a medium-sized parrot naturalised after decades of pet escapes, incongruous with a aandpaper chill pinching my fingers and nose.
Soreness and exhaustion lingering, but not too overbearingly, just producing a slow drag inviting me to acknowledge my exertion and treat it responsibly. Definitely trying hard to stay warm, tucking myself under a blanket whenever possible.
May we find space and time for rest and recovery in our lives today!
