The maze is resting

This is the maze behind Russborough House in Ireland but not the image one usually sees of the dense passages of closely cropped boxwood, winding in on themselves in a lovely pattern, intended to be mildly perplexing.
The lush green is gone, replaced by a bright and pleasing russet tone but no one plans to walk the maze in the winter: too cold, too dry; not at all what we had in mind....

Break's over!

A month and a day since the last post and high time to get back to work!
The first order of business is the election of a mascot for February, this brief month of dim mornings, short days and long, cold nights. Many people wish the month away before it even gets going but I think that is unjust. Perhaps our disdain should be reserved for miserable March, author of dashed hopes, late storms and icy mud.
No, February deserves a reprieve from our harsh judgement. Instead, let us notice its' brevity and the flashes of sunlight that arrive unexpectedly and remember that it willingly takes forward the mantle of newness that fell on us in January: full of optimism and energy as yet untapped.
In that spirit, I elect this little fellow, a 2 day old elephant, resident of an British zoo seen here taking in the world beyond the wall of his mother's presence for the very first time.
It won't be dignified but it would do us no harm to be as impressed by the ordinary world as this boy clearly is.