study · 12 panes · over the lane
north light is the light readers ask for and painters ask for and the rest of the house refuses to share. it does not change much from nine to four. it does not flatter. a face by this window looks like itself; a page by this window looks like a page. the study has had four readers since the lamp was put in, of whom the present one is the slowest.
the view is the lane: a thin strip of trodden cart-track, a dry stone wall along the verge, and beyond the wall the long sloping field that runs to the next hedge. on a busy day the lane carries two persons. on a quiet day it carries one. on a wet day it carries the post, late, with an apology pinned to the bag.
the catch is good — a long brass arm with two seats — but the lower sash sticks in damp weather. the keeper closes it last, after the desk lamp is killed and the chair pushed in. they pause to look at the wall in case there is anyone on the lane. usually there is not. on a Tuesday in October there was.
field-note · study the middle stone in the wall has a hollow where a small bird made a nest two summers ago. the bird has not come back. the hollow is left as it is.