At last, spring has sprung. I know this because this morning I was not only enticed into the garden by the sight of daffodills etc I was able to stay out there without freezing in sub-zero Siberian winds. I also noticed the acid-green beginnings of leaves on the birch trees - always a sure sign that the season has finally changed.

I love that colour, the first shy signs of the summer to come. I particularly love it on days like today when it clashes delightfully with the clear empty blue of a cloudless sky.

The change of season brought other acid-green creatures onto the street in vast numbers. Cyclists! Did you see them all? Of course there are the nutty ones (like adam and tall paul) who keep going through the winter, bouncing off cars and swearing through traffic with the water spraying off their tyres and mud in their eyes but there were loads out today who got a bike for Christmas and this was the first day they thought they might actually like to use it. The bright green "Don't kill me!" vests obviously came with these brand new bikes.

Have you ever noticed the sound of cyclists? En masse they click and whirr like beetles. Listen out - they really do...

Ah cycling - such a good idea.

Much better than cars in the city. Where cyclists resemble spring shoots and sound like insects cars resemble insects (all hard shiny carapace) but sound like distant oil wars or the end of the world happening somewhere in the future.

I really do not like cars much. A problem as I recently inherited one from my grandfather. Well I mean I love cars. They are great! Zoom around in a little bubble, listen to music you like, travel with folk who don't stink too bad or vomit on the floor next to you - cars make me go all Mel - FREEDOM - Gibson...

But they are also bad news. I mean those little shoots in the garden this morning. All that slow delicacy. And what do cars use to power them? The fossilised remains of the ancient ancestors of said green shoots. Millions of years of time and slow growth burned away in an instant so that Jr can get to school on time (he's too fat to walk!) or dad can do the shopping all in one go so he can get home in time to make lunch for mum (who is a rally driver)...

I'm sure cars are the ultimate symbol of our age really but the problems of the world are great and my brain is rather small and at the end of the day (even if it's after my fifth coffee and I'm feeling pretty clever) - I suspect I'm with Voltaire - il faut cultiver notre jardin!