WEST WIND

A thick mist hung over the village at first light, but by the time I had mended the fires and fed the cats, the wind had freshened from the west and the mist vanished, chased away by the strengthening gusts.

The tall Maple at the edge of the garden, brilliant these past weeks with Autumn colour responded to this buffeting by shedding it's large bright leaves in a great shower and before I had finished dressing the lawn was carpeted with leaves and the tree was looking very bare.

During the summer the trees which grow at the end of our garden form a dense barrier from the outside world, but once the leaves are gone the vista opens up and the distant hills can be seen from almost every room in the house.

On the down side our house and garden can then be clearly seen from the lane and at this time of the years passing villagers stare with frank curiosity to see what changes have been wrought during the Summer months., and do not scruple to pass judgement upon what they see! Their trenchant remarks can be quite amusing when one can listen unobserved from the small secret garden we are in the process of making.

This new openness provides more opportunities for conversation than in the Summer when only disembodied voices can be heard as folk pass by, and we spend many an interesting half hour swapping village gossip with passing neighbours, invisible to us in the leafy Summertime.

As I dressed my hair(a tricky business since the arthritis in my thumbs has worsened) the wind blew stronger plastering the windows with leaves. When a few moments later a strong burst of sunshine glance on them they lit up the room like a glowing fire, the effect was stunning.

In a fit of whimsy I tried to remember a poem, well a piece of doggerel actually, about the way the wind blows. Unable to recall it fully to mind I wrote my own version of this dotty little rhyme

When the wind is in the north

You'll get cold if you go forth.

When the wind is in the east,

It's neither good to man nor beast.

When the wind is in the west,

Don't forget to wear your vest!

When from the south the wind doth blow.

Throw of your thermals and off you go!

This may not be exactly right but it certainly does state the case, don't you think.

If anyone out there knows the actual words I'd be glad to hear from them.