What else to do when contemplating a day’s writing? Go for a long walk in Prospect Park.

It was my first walk there since early December. The place was near empty and quiet of birds. Even the squirrels made no noise as they jumped around, because all the leaves have now disappeared from the trees, and somehow from the ground too – perhaps they’ve turned to mulch already. A beautiful soft mist snuggled into the trees, and the whole place was as still as a photograph.

The weather has turned relatively warm again, and the sustained higher temperature (by that I mean 8-12 Celsius rather than the average 0-7 for this time of year) has resulted in the very early budding of many trees. The locals are quite disconcerted about it. I always think buds are such a hopeful sight that I don’t really mind when they decide to appear, even if spring isn’t officially sprung until mid-March.