Hedgebrook, Day Eleven

Sunset last night over Deer Lagoon. The bugs are so dense that their noise is collective -- a terrifying hum that explains the word swarm.

Sunrise this morning from Hedgebrook Farm looking out toward Useless Bay and the moon. I go to bed very late, writing and then reading until 2 or 3 in the morning and then sleeping until 10 or even later. I dream every night or early morning, too, something that only happened sporadically for many years. My mind, I think, is free to range. This morning, I woke before 5 and decided to put shoes on and go outside for a walk around the farm. It was barely light. I want to see an owl. The woods were, in fact, lovely, dark and deep. When I reached the meadow, three deer lifted their heads and looked in my direction, walked into the woods. Birds and the distant, insistent crow of a rooster. No owl. Something in the bushes rustled. I was the only human awake. At my cottage I climbed into the loft and got into the bed, still warm despite the half hour that had passed since I'd left. I went back to sleep and yes, I dreamed of an owl.