1. My phone battery dies overnight but our – and the animals’ – body clocks wake us right on time.
2. The bracken, brambles and balsam have died away to reveal new paths through the woods and fields. We walk them together, her tail spinning, my heels sinking into the leaf mulch.
3. I love homemade bread – the substance and process of it – but every now and then, a fluffy floury bun from the supermarket is the most divine thing in the world.
(Well, actually, during the night/before my alarm went off to start the day, but that “before breakfast” has got a better ring to it.)
1. When it is dark: the world is as silent and still as I’ve ever heard it her. No wind in the trees, no traffic noise, no birds or animals making noises in the woods. The whole world is asleep (except me).
2. When it is dawn: even without my glasses, I can see the eruption on the horizon. Above the treeline, the whole sky turns red.
3. When it is daylight: in what feels like the blink of an eye, the red disappears and is replaced by brilliant blue, dotted with white fluffy clouds. Often when I wake in the early morning like this, the sky is like this – a kid’s drawing of a perfect summer sky – and as always, I momentarily consider getting up to enjoy it, but then, on cue, I fall asleep again.
© 2024 Louisa Parry