I lay in the darkness this morning listening to the rain lash against the windows. My wife has tested positive for COVID and I am sleeping in a barn on our property - and no, I was not sleeping on hay with hens as bed fellows. Gratefully, I was comfortable.

As dawn slowly emerged, hampered by the dark storm clouds, I could see trees, blurred by the rain covered windows, bending under the strong winds. The hilltop across the valley was shrouded in a light mist. I was lying there alone, and in that aloneness and with the weather howling outside, I could feel the cabin, the remoteness that I had called for a couple of weeks ago.

I felt comfortable and with a wish for this day and the next few days, just to be like this.