Read Chasing Fog // Order a signed copy of Chasing Fog // Join the Book Club
Just like that, the light slips back and everything seems possible again.
It’s not spring, not yet — only yesterday, taking a Pilates class in the village hall, I looked out the window to see snowflakes falling on the playing field. We all paused our shoulder stretches to watch them swirl. It’s not spring yet — although I can smell it in the air, loamy and fresh — but it’s not winter, either. The light has slipped back, soft and clear. It leads me through the seasonal borderland, beckoning me onwards, whispering promises.
‘Come out’, the light whispers, tugging at my hand to pull me away from my desk and I follow it, out the front door and down the lane. ‘Look!’ says the light, touching the tops of undulating Welsh hills on the other side of the river. In the valley below me, the fields are still dull, not yet the vivid green of spring, but the light picks out the tower of a church in the middle distance and leaves a shimmer on the far river surface.
The light has summoned the birds, too — birdsong catches at the corners of the sky — robin, blackbird, chiff chaff, wren. From the trees on the hill comes the creaky, intermittent rattle of a woodpecker drumming. The great spotted woodpecker, with its flashes of red feathers, used to be considered guardian of the forest and its hammering — one of the first signs of spring — is still an indicator of healthy woodland.
A row of early blossom trees lean out of the hedgerow into a field, stretching white branches to the grass. The light tangles in their petals, illuminating the prettiest. I walk down a narrow footpath, banks on either side covered with feathery cow parsley leaves and yellow celandine, buds still closed, waiting for the light to sweep over them just a few more times before they open their starburst petals.
Glossy blades of wild garlic leaves have started to emerge, almost long enough to be picked — in a few weeks I'll be back with my basket to gather some and stir them into macaroni cheese. On the bank below the hedge, the light points out a clump of pale primroses, each with five buttery, heart-shaped petals and an egg-yolk centre. Robins warble to one another across the catkin-edged field.
At the bottom of the path, I pass through a gate. The light twinkles dewdrops on the long grass and I stand with my eyes closed, sun on my face, listening to birdsong in surround sound — a cloud of song. When I set off up the lane towards home, my shadow walks beside me, her hair blowing in the wind — a jackdaw flies out of a tree and she turns her head to look. The light, still with me, flashes across puddles — for a moment they reflect back cloud-dappled sky, before turning to mud again as I pass.
Sitting down again at my desk, a cup of coffee in hand, I watch the light stretch long fingers across the walls of my tiny study. I think about the woodpecker, tap-tapping away on the hill behind the house, and the celandines, ready to burst into bloom. The words in my notebook, infused with light, begin to coalesce. Now, in this quiet, sunlit coffee-scented morning, everything seems possible again.
| W R I T E | W I T H | M E |
Two weeks today, I will be gathering with
and a group of special women at a gorgeous venue in Oxfordshire for a nourishing Finding Your Voice day retreat.✨ featured as one of the seven ‘best UK retreats for aspiring writers’ ✨
— The Times
Will you join us?
I’ll be teaching morning and afternoon masterclasses. There will be time and space to rest, replenish, write, enjoy conversations and ask questions. You’ll leave with a goodie bag, a notebook full of ideas, and perhaps a new writer friend or two.
This is your very last chance to snap up one of the final places by emailing hello@easeretreats.com
Thank you for reading,
Laura
"Everything seems possible again." -- yes, yes! Lovely prose throughout; such a pleasure to read.
This felt like I was reading the beginning of beautiful story . The light giving way to so much beauty and your words shone throughout like they’ve been sprinkled with natures effervescent magic.