It is sad that it is a joy to see a bee at work when once they were so plentiful. But it is a joy even if you have to wait for ages until it lands long enough and close enough for you to get a shot. The importance of what it is doing in its work of polination is a reminder that the smallest of creatures is vital to the world that we share together. Nan Shepherd, who wrote so beautifully about the Cairngorms in The Living Mountain, encourages us not to race up hills just to say we have reached the top, but to go slowly and think about the piece of ground in front of you, and how much life is going on in that little patch of ground. Even if we cannot get up a mountain, we can still reflect on the patch of ground we can reach, or even imagine.
Kendal Catholic Priest 