Kingfisher and Covid

An attitude of gratitude! Picking out the highlights from the last year, however awful it was. These things are always around at this time of year. So I thought I should give it a go myself. But I found that thinking of things to be grateful for in spite of the impact of Covid wasn’t very helpful. It didn’t make up in any way for the things that had been lost during lockdown and other Covid restrictions. I needed to find things to be grateful for because of lockdown. Something additional that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

So one thing I’m grateful for is the time I’ve had to notice and appreciate the natural world around me. With nowhere else to go but outside I’ve spent more time there. The permission for daily exercise in the first lockdown inspired a regular routine of walks. And with restrictions on travel, I’ve covered the same ground so many times that small changes have become more noticeable.

I took my walk early this morning and reaped my reward when I saw a kingfisher dart across the little lake in the park. I knew that a kingfisher visits the local park but I’d only caught a glimpse of it once. Today it stayed still long enough for me to take a photo. From a bit far away, so it’s rather blurry now I’ve zoomed in! But what a treat to watch this beautiful bird sit and then the bright flash of blue as it flew back across the water. There’s often a heron in the park to, which I also saw this morning. Cue another blurry photo!

I think this experience of being closer to nature has been felt my many, especially during the blossom season in the glorious Spring weather we had. Though I’m aware that living close to green space is a gift that has made it possible to have this experience. Spending time in nature is good for our physical and mental health. And on top of that, spending time in nature is a significant route in for people to care about the environment and bigger issues like climate change. So from a work perspective, that’s another thing I can be grateful for!

It’s snowing!

I always get a little giddy when it snows. There’s usually a flurry of text messages stating the obvious with snowflake emojis, and I’m restless until I can go out in it. The rest of the family rolls their eyes, but they’ll come out with me anyway.

So you can imagine I was very sad to read new Met Office data analysis published last month suggesting that snowy winters and sub zero temperatures in the UK could become a thing of the past.

Snow days and sledging look set to become another casualty of rising global temperatures. This increase causes different kinds of climate change in different parts of the world. And in the UK it looks like warmer, wetter winters, hotter, drier summers, and more intense periods of rainfall leading to flooding.

In the grand scheme of things, no more snowy days is clearly not the most devastating impact of climate change. In other parts of the world climate change is already much more extreme – climate chaos or climate breakdown describe it better. Droughts, floods and storms destroy lives and livelihoods with increasing frequency. And the poorest people in the poorest countries are suffering the most.

But I’ll still be sad to see snow disappear from my winter – unless I go searching for it up on the high ground. If you feel the same, make sure you make the most of it while it’s snowing now. And then make sure that action to tackle climate change matters just as much as making the most of the snow.