December 2

Clear and still this morning, so much so that it was easy to hear the bells of the First Congregational Church from the back porch. Six times they chimed, pausing a couple of seconds in between each - strangely the only sound at all outside now.

Six in the morning is very dark in December, made more so by the new moon which officially arrives tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday that mornings were filled with the vibrancy of birdsong or insect; these have been replaced by a December stillness that is so quiet that it’s almost lonely.