March 5th 2015
Springtime in Barnes
The first signs of spring each year will have Mary exclaiming, "My pineal is pinging". It is not a term that I have ever heard anyone else use but it may well be that this tiny structure situated in the middle of the brain does have something to do with the general lifting of spirits that occurs in many of us at around this time of year, particularly given that it is believed to play a major role in sexual development and seasonal breeding in animals. René Descartes believed that the pineal was the 'principal seat of the soul', which is perhaps less bizarre than many of the other functions attributed to this organ; try typing 'pineal gland awakening' into Google and see what you come up with!
Mary's pineal would have been positively bursting if she had accompanied me around the 'Leg o' Mutton nature reserve' in Barnes today. A siege of herons has made its home high in the boughs of one of the largest trees there and I spent some time enjoying watching the birds build their nests. Green parakeets were also in abundance with one pair busily pro-creating in the branches of the same tree. These birds appear to nest in small pre-existing holes in the trunks of trees from which one will occasionally see them peek.
| 
