The Big Freeze

The big freeze has been in for about ten days now- some days with blue skies and others when the whole world is six shades of grey. Today a litle tragi-comedy. Walking through town I went past the artisanal cheese shop - not the one with three plastic goats tethered outside - (how many times have I done reality check on that one?) but the one with a strip of artificial grass outside its front door. (Wageningen is overloaded with foodie shops - one reason when I like it so much). There was blackbird on this strip, pecking away - oblivious to the passing crowds - obviously drawn through desperation to the most likely environment to yield some worms. (I guess a diet of breadcrumbs and peanuts must get boring for an omnivore). "Mm looks like grass, feels like grass underfoot, doesn't smell like grass though - where's the worms?" One of Louise de Bearnieres' characters says that as people get older they identify more with birds - is this new found ability of mine to empathise with a blackbird a sign of impending geriatric impairment?