As mammals, we’re something of an anomaly. Most of our mammalian kindred species are well suited to, and indeed orient their lives around, the night. We humans, on the other opposable thumb equipped hand, have evolved – particularly in regard to our visual acuity – to fare much better in daylight. Therefore we have done all we can to make sure that those things that go bump in the night, as well as the more stealthy ones that don’t, aren’t concealed from us.
Ever since I began reading the Seasons Anthology from Elliott & Thompson, I have been increasingly finding myself paying more attention to the genre of non-fiction called “place” writing. Focused on the interactions of people (either the writer or others) with a particular location in conveying the Zeitgeist of the place to the reader, place writing incorporates a wide range of elements from history to psychology – and of most interest to me, nature.