the road out of the woods

It was surprisingly difficult to get out of bed this morning.Even Eva—who had steadfastly refused to suspend her dawn walk schedule merely because we were on holiday—declared a temporary truce with responsibility and burrowed back beneath the blankets between us.The reason was simple enough.The moment our feet touched the floor, our little retreat would begin drawing to a close. We'd have to tidy the cabin, gather our scattered belongings, pack the car and point it back towards ordinary life.The red dot on the satellite image below marks the location of the cabin where we'd spent the past three nights. Apart from the farmhouse and outbuildings tucked into the trees nearby, there was nothing around us for miles in any direction. Just bosveld, birdsong, wind through the trees... and a silence so complete it almost became another companion.Lying there beneath the covers, I found myself thinking about the strange healing power of that solitude.I'd wandered outside several times with a…