Country diary: The light and shade of autumn’s shortening days | Merryn Glover

Loch Insh, Cairngorms: In my three decades in Scotland I’ve adjusted to the darkness of this time of year, and found glory in the quality of light It is the one clear day in a fortnight of heavy cloud, wind and rain, so I am out by the loch, basking in the rays of light, breathing them in, hoarding for the weeks to come.

This time of year makes them all the more precious. Here in the Highlands, once we are past the autumnal equinox , we can almost feel the Earth…