Burrowing in a warm place

Something has borrowed under the patio at the back of my house. I don't how long the tunnel has been there or if it is active. I haven’t been out in the back much since before Christmas so I didn't notice the digging until today. I can’t block it until I am sure it is not a home to some animal and family.

I don't go out much during the month of January unless I have to. Staying inside is healthier, safer and warmer. Dark late mornings and gloomy early evenings give little encouragement to active outdoor life. The protracted rigmarole of dressing appropriately takes too long. Far easier to go with nature and wait out this dark time of the year. Winter solstice festivals reassure me that the sun will return if I am patient.

January is that time of the year when those who want it should be allowed to hibernate - pull the curtains, wait out the worst of the weather, remember there is such a thing as sunshine and warmth and wait for the earth to spin into a proper relationship with the sun.

This year I had a writing hibernation. It had the same symptoms as being lazy and unproductive. I justified it by complaining I was ill, out of sorts and suffering from vitamin D2 deficiency. On the other hand, maybe the brain needs time off to rest and restore its vigour. That sounds like a more acceptable excuse.

Whatever was going on, I feel the hibernation has passed. Another book is due for publication in March. A View From the Boiler House Door is a riot of stories about the antics in a school responding to a new headteacher and the unexpected arrival of five boys in wheelchairs. You know things will not go well, but would you expect GBH, a lockout, a strike, defamation, wheelchair-bound kids who recognise no limits, a concert that courts being banned for lewd acts and behaviour unbecoming anyone in authority. And, all of it true!. This book will give you an unexpected insight into what really goes on in schools.

The book following that, due out in August, is well advanced in the plotting stage. Time is not on my side if I am to meet my targets, at least not time to sit around moaning because the weather is miserable. The days are starting earlier and finishing later. Flower shoots are poking through in next-door’s garden like the first paragraphs written on a page signalling - here we go again.

Migration to sunnier climates might be a better option than hibernation. Nature suggests we should follow the birds south until winter passes. What a pity we have to ignore nature and stay put. On the other hand, the unseasonal heat would be a major obstacle to serious writing.

Whatever is living under my patio has the right idea: dig down and come out when all is well again.