I spent last week in the Highlands, in retreat, writing. It misted, it rained, it blew, and on the last night, the elements fell still, the sky cleared, and we adjourned to the straw bale studio to read our work aloud, to uncork wine and stay up late. On the short walk back to the … Continue reading The Old Lady Who Put the Stars in the Sky
Flying out of Northern Ireland from the airport in the countryside, not the one in the city by the shore of Belfast Lough. There’s half a moon, drifting escapes of black cloud blowing like scraps of burnt paper, and our ascent is long and low enough for me to pick out towns, or to try. … Continue reading Night Flight
I’ve written before about looking up, skyward, and how the spaciousness and unfathomable expansion brings up a mixture of feelings within me: awe, hope, and sometimes even a sense trepidation that I can’t quite understand. Like last week’s pink flume of cloud that rose at sunset making my world feel supernatural until, gazing at it … Continue reading Pay Attention to the Open Sky
Oh, Edinburgh! Dearest city mother with too many children; lady of grace with so much to do; cherished nursemaid laden with contracts of responsibility. Yet you tend to it uncomplaining. You raise your progeny consistently, watchful over everyone who lives here and passes through as you sleep lightly, keeping one eye half open. I know … Continue reading Edinburgh Resting
This happens to me every year: I sleep my head off in January. I wake up and it has rolled off during the night, usually under the bed, and I am so heavy with the remnants of lassitude that it takes me half an hour to reach down, scoop it up and screw it back … Continue reading Slumber Number
Wrap your hand around the pen, put your pen on the paper, begin to make marks on the page, and keep on going. Lace up your trainers, walk out the door, put one foot in front of the other, and keep moving. One helps me figure; the other helps my figure. Suffice to say that … Continue reading Night Running
In Edinburgh, we have gained 50 seconds more light today compared with yesterday. Tomorrow, a further 58 seconds will be added to the bag, over a minute the following day, and by New Year’s Eve we’ll have a whole six minutes more of daylight than we had on the shortest day a week ago. Not … Continue reading Tender Is The Night
It’s oft quoted, and it sounds like it might be from the Bible, or from Shakespeare, but the attribution for recording to print that 'the darkest hour is just before the dawn' falls to the English theologian and historian, Thomas Fuller. He wrote it in 1650, in language that is somewhat more archaic than what … Continue reading The Darkest Hour
I’m down south in the big city, staying with M. I didn't sleep well on my first night here. Last night was different, who knows why. A change of place usually doesn't bother me, but I lay sleepless, aware of the night noises, quite different to those back at home. “You might hear the urban … Continue reading Night Noises
My Edinburgh Press 