april

While others bundle and bunch

under umbrellas, shrug

into pak-a-macs and hunch deep

into their collars, their faces

scrunched, gurning

against the elements, she

pokes tongues

at raindrops and laughs

glitter from her hair.


In the UK we are used to hearing that “April showers bring May flowers”, an expression that apparently can be traced to its earliest known form –

Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers

– in the sixteenth century work “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” by Thomas Tusser.

In Spanish, the equivalent expression is “En abril, aguas mil” – in April, a thousand waters – the only problem being that that is often more wishful thinking than an accurate description of the climate. So the phrase “y todos caben en un barril” is often tacked on the end.

This year, however, although the weather has now improved, there’s still plenty of water in the ground after the past few months, and everything is growing out of control. We’ve also had rain in the night recently, meaning that the weeds and wild flowers are knee high and very wet down in the orchard and along the bridle path. It’s all very pretty, but I’m getting sick of having damp feet.

Ironically, a wet spring increases the chances of summer fires, as all these weeds will die back and be like straw, ready to be ignited by the smallest spark.