Looking at leaves and dirt is just one of my many compulsions. I don’t know much about the names of plants and trees, but I can talk to you all day about their textures and sounds throughout the year.

In the spring the new leaves are so fresh and bright in their colours. I love the smell in autumn as the trees shake off their tired, worn out leaves and settle in for a few months of rest. I pile up dead leaves in my compost heap. As the weather warms up it is amazing to see the explosion of tiny worms munching through the waste.

I’ve been reading Thoreau again. Not only is he the prototypical environmentalist but he is also laugh-out-loud funny.