Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in the English countryside

Since living out in the English country side, blessed with a vast garden and wood around me, I have found myself observing each season and embracing all the beauty it brings.  Having grown up with the heat of the African sun on my back, it has taken many, many years to embrace the harshness a winter can bring, and it is slowly becoming my favourite season.  But how can you choose?
Spring does exactly what it says on the tin: it puts a spring into your step, a joy in the air, as mother nature slowly unfurls from the depth of winter.  It bounces us into action preparing us for the summer time.  The Great British Summer: there isn’t really a better place to be on a summer’s day.  The long days, eating well into the night, the cherry blossom trees that look like pink clouds, the glorious perfume of Lily of the Valley wafting through the garden, while the bumble bees ferociously buzz from flower to flower.  When the flowers have all bloomed, the days start getting shorter and all the greenery starts changing to the yellows, oranges, reds and browns of Autumn.  Arguably the most stunning season of the four.  The irony of the cold setting in and the warmth of the colours.  Summer life prepares itself for winter hibernation, the leaves tumble from the trees creating a velvety warm carpet on the floors.  As the long nights close in, there is nothing more comforting that joining Mother Nature’s hibernation and cosying up in front of a crackling fire with a good book and a cup of warmth.  Waking up on a chilly morning to see the work of Jack Frost out in the garden.  The tiny shards of ice glisten in the winter sun light.  A dusting of snow covers all it touches, creating quite literally, a winter wonderland.  Before long, the nights shorten again and the first signs of life start to peep out from hibernation, and it’s spring again.
I have the most magnificent oak tree at the bottom of my garden which leaves me in awe every day as I look out the window.  It is fascinating watching it in particular, weathering all these changes, always majestic.
Embrace each season, even your least favourite, and let it inspire you.  Each one offers a unique glow of light, brightening our souls. Thank you Mother Nature.