When does the Winter end? 1st February? 1st March? The Vernal Equinox? Maybe it is a state of mind rather than a chronological or a meteorological point.

‘When the winter ends’, was what the lady had said that the very last time I had seen her.

Living in sheltered accommodation at the edge of a small seaside village, she tended to be reclusive, preferring her own company to that of her neighbours (some of whom were, admittedly, garrulous).  Her main interest in life was her son, whose occasional appearance were …