To our Paralympians – who others thought could not, but did!

A small tribute to the world’s disabled athletes; more than most, they give of everything they have...

'Some, as great forest trees stand well above the rest; men and women of courage and forethought, those who start with little and often die with less – those who dare to dream.'

*

Well, that’s it. What little summer there was has most definitely come and gone, and like some ignominious lover, left most of us unimpressed.

Watched the last gathering of Africa-bound swallows rev up their engines, lift en masse and with a final, farewell tip of their wings to us on the ground, twitter off to warmer climes.

Die-hard stalwarts; chaffinches, tits and robins grin at me through the kitchen window. Don’t forget our nuts and seed! they shout, and I grin back and give ‘em a thumbs-up. For those who stay behind, winters are hard out here in the sticks.

Already the wind is howling around the chimney pots; hawthorns and blackthorns bend their backs and like little old men cling tenaciously to sodden hedgerows. But all of this is England, my home and though the wind still howls, the world outside my study window is now at peace. I know where I stand. Without rancour, I look forward to our next snow-covered Christmas Day...

*