Tripod 01's photostream  

The Charente can be cold in winter. This shot taken 5 February 2012. Camera: Nikon D300.

From the slender branches of many-stemmed Hazel trees, the elongating cylinders of catkins hang in profusion in groups to remind us that Spring is fast-approaching.
In the autumn the same branches will bear the small brown hazelnuts.

I cannot look at a hazel tree without being reminded of the beautiful poem by W B Yeats - TheSong Of Wandering Aengus - one of my favourite poems.

Christy Moore has immortalised the poem in his haunting rendering. You can listen to it
here

SEE MORE OF MY IMAGES (ON BLACK) here

As the sky rapidly darkens, an old Ash stands silhouetted by the sun as it dips below the western horizon. View from my garden in Oradour Fanais, on 29 February , 1900 hrs.

As a believer I cannot say that I agree with the belief expressed in the last line but the poem is beautiful nonetheless and our initial stay is indeed a brief one, though of course, not meaningless.