After all the recent high winds and torrential rain we have endured lately it was a pleasure to wake to clear blue skies and bright sunshine this morning, the temperature was an enjoyable 9.5 degrees celsius, and we were on our way to a family reunion.
The flooded fields are much less now and although we may encounter some roads with water running down the edges we don't expect to see any that are totally flooded.The hazels are particularly eye catching this year, I cannot ever remember seeing such an abundance of catkins before. This autumn is going to be especially good for squirrels, mice, humans and all other creatures who love hazel nuts.
We have just passed a lone hazel bush, it was growing from the green verge and was well forward of the bare brown hedgerow behind it. Standing alone as it was, we were able to fully appreciate its natural shape and the pretty picture it made, with the morning sunshine illuminating the hundreds of golden, sunlit golden catkins dangling from the branches. It reminded me of a Christmas tree.
We pass an area of countryside and across one of the fields a huge wall of earth has been built, I wonder at the reason for this, there is no flooding in the field or those nearby, so it cannot be a flood defence. I shall keep an eye on it during the year and see what evolves.
Surprisingly we pass more earth barricades, these are edging fields that edge the motorway, glancing back I see that the fields at the back of them are flooded, so perhaps they are there for flood defence against the motorway suffering an excess of water. Maybe they are there for aesthetic reasons, perhaps to shield the view of the motorway or even to offset some of the noise or pollution.
The trees are still bare and skeletal and seeing them standing in grand isolation in the middle of fields or even along field boundaries, they are very attractive. Each species is so individual and although I always thought it easier to identify trees by their leaves, I now wonder if it wouldn't be easier to type them when they are bare.
On the M25 we pass a bucket lying in the road and I fear for the danger it presents. The lorry following us hit it and suddenly there was a "snow" storm of black plastic filling the immediate area, but what happened to the metal handle, I wondered.
Occasionally we see broom in full flower, its vivid yellow blossom bright against the dark green of its evergreen foliage. It is a bright and beautiful addition to the motorway verges.
I love the landscape on both sides of the M25, between Rickmansworth and the M40 turnoff, there is a point when the fields dip and rise and I am reminded of the gentle slopes of the beautiful Yorkshire Wolds.
I had been admiring the deep, deep maroon colour on the new shoots of the silver birch tree, when we pass a tree smothered in small white blossom, this is a surprise so early in the year and I wonder if it is an early bullace.
Nearing our destination I smile to see the informal hedge of yellow winter flowering jasmine growing wild and untamed on the verge alongside the road, I wonder how it came to first grow there.
The last to write about on this almost over journey is a stretch of beautiful bright white, delicate snowdrops. It is good to know that over the years they will continue to bloom and increase, thereby giving so much pleasure to so many passersby.
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