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Country diary: Stuck inside, I experience the beauty of winter

Admin, The UK Times
28 Jan 2025 • 09:57 am
Country diary: Stuck inside, I experience the beauty of winter

Country diary: Stuck inside, I experience the beauty of winter

In Welburn, North Yorkshire, I watch shadows move across the walls. Tree trunks and climbing roses find their way inside.

I’m someone who likes to hibernate. The cold season doesn’t make me feel bad; it just makes me want to sleep. But this year, I’ve been resting even more than usual, after getting hit with both the flu and a cough called respiratory syncytial virus.

While recovering, I had trouble reading or using a screen, so I spent hours just watching the shadows on the wall. In the bedroom, through the small windows, I saw strange, blurry shapes that I realized were the trunks of trees on the steep hill opposite the house. The sun can’t reach above them at this time of year, so it casts shadows all day, moving slowly across the walls. In the kitchen, the shadows of trees mix with the clearer shapes of ivy and climbing roses outside. In my study, the shadows are lit up by sudden flashes of gold from the writing on my books.

The light feels extra special at this time of year. You can see it shining on spider webs that were invisible before, and the bright colors in droplets of melting frost hanging from tree branches, swaying gently in the breeze. There’s also the long golden hours at the start and end of the day when the light from the low sun travels through more of the sky.

I think about ancient people like druids and medieval astronomers watching the skies and marking the positions of stars. I also think about Isaac Newton, who spent time during the plague figuring out that white light is made of many colors. He used prisms to break sunlight into its colors, and even poked himself in the eye to study how his vision of light changed. Thankfully, I’m not that bored, but I do find comfort in knowing that nature and wonder still find their way into my life, even when I’m staying indoors.

Published: 28th January 2025

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