Hope springs ....

There purports to be a Chinese proverb which wishes that people live in interesting times. However many might prefer a quiet time and less excitement. Many of us knew relatives who lived through the wars and they spoke longingly of the community spirit and togetherness that occurred. However time can dull the angst and the horror of those difficult years.

Some of us, though feeling hale and hearty have been stood down from work, from caring and from regular social contact. Normal life now involves a repeated awareness of distancing and hygiene unheard of in recent times. Some of us have distanced ourselves in isolated walks in this lovely Lucan area we call home.

There are a plethora of walks, many of them along the river banks, bereft of people and contact dangers. Even for those of us who lived here for decades we have discovered woodland walks with a carpet of flowers and wild garlic along the river east of the village.

While walking in an early morning recently the lands of St Edmundsbury were busy with machines ploughing, harrowing and seeding. Neat rows of drills displayed the efficiency of modern farming. It is marvellous to see the land being used.

Planting is a belief in the future; in planning for later in the year; in preparing for the necessary harvest. It is a statement for the future, a belief in the deliverance from the Pandemic and in better and more normal times ahead.

It's not unlike the Christian message - we will get over all this, there is a future and we will all be able to hug our grandchildren and indeed our friends, neighbours and families again.

Tony Feeney