I am in the middle of the most mundane of tasks - spring cleaning the house, but alas I'm rapidly running out of momentum.
Beatrix Potter wrote in her book, The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, "a most terribly tidy little mouse always sweeping and dusting the floors." How I wish that I too had some of her enthusiasm and zest.
I do, however, keep reminding myself of just how fortunate I am, that is compared with the thousands of people up and down the country whose homes have been completely flooded and wrecked over the last couple of weeks. How do they manage to remain on an even keel in the face of such adversity? Dirty, muddy water, containing sewage, swirling into their homes, damaging the flooring, the furniture, the electrical goods, and destroying precious family keepsakes.
Many of those that have appeared on the news have shown extreme stoicism in the face of cleaning up their homes. I saw that same strength too from those who were interviewed in Australia following loosing their homes in the recent bush fires. As in this country, many of them have not only lost their homes but also their livelihoods too.
One of the places that has been severely hit with flooding is the quaint small town of Tenbury Wells. Some of you might recall that we visited the town last summer to see their unique little Pump Room and Spa building, given the curious architectural description of "Chinese Gothic".
I don't know how this building has fared during the deluge, but I do know that one lady from the town was swept off her feet by the suddenness of the advancing flood waters and sadly lost her life.
My photo above shows a small water culvert running off from the main river. It is a long way down from where I was standing and also well below the surrounding buildings.
The main road over this bridge crosses the River Teme and leads on down into the town. It is hard to believe that the river overflowed the white parapet of this bridge. Thus enabling it to deluge the town. Although rain in the vicinity was responsible for much of the flooding there was also a huge increase in volume to the rivers caused by water joining them from tributaries originating in the Welsh mountains.
As winter turns into spring, snowdrops symbolise sympathy, purity, optimism and above all hope.
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