I had a dream that there were some goldfinches in a tree. I was with my mum and I was waiting for her to see them and be excited to see so many unexpectedly colourful birds, so I could show off my bird knowledge and tell her they were goldfinches. She did ask me and I did tell her. And then I saw a great tit in the same tree and I said, 'look at that big one,' (even though they’re not that big), 'that's a great tit.' And I felt a kind of urgency because I knew her interest in the birds would probably be fast disappearing.
The day after the dream was one of those 'unseasonably' hot days we had recently. I decided I should brave the heat and leave the house, so I went to the Lewes Road Extra-Mural Cemetery. I was struck immediately by the trees in pink and white flower. I’m always surprised when trees have flowers. It’s like they’ve stolen the idea from the real flowers.
I peeled a hard-boiled egg and ate it. Then I saw two jays flying between the trees ahead of me. Their electric blue wing streaks were like fancy jewellery amongst all the humble browns and greens of the trees. I had seen two jays in this exact place before. Surely it's the same pair, right? Monogamous and in love and settled, in the same tree every year?
And then Emma sent me a message telling me that it was exactly a year ago that we had come to this graveyard and I had seen a blackcap while she looked in the herb garden. I thought maybe the blackcap lived in the same place all year round, like the jays. I couldn't find it there though, or hear it. I did see a little wren just behind where the blackcap had been, which was a treat. Normally you just hear them.
A car pulled up. The driver stayed in the car while a passenger got out and went up to a bed of roses with remembrance plaques in front of each plant. She looked at one of them for a couple of seconds and then got back in the car and it drove away.
I went home then, satisfied that I had left the house.
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