Melissa Harrison has begun a podcast – and it is absolutely brilliant.
Recording her walks through the Suffolk countryside where she makes her home, The Stubborn Light of Things offers listeners an exquisitely gentle, relaxing, running – well, walking, perhaps even ambling, actually – commentary on the nature she observes around her on her journeys, as well as the sounds of the English countryside that are more than enough to make a Anglophile pastoralist weep tears of joy.
At the time of this writing, two episodes have been released.
In Episode One: Endurance, along with her exquisite musings upon her surroundings and the soft sound of footsteps along the path, Ms. Harrison brings her listeners the sounds of Chiffchaffs, a remotely recorded passage by Andy Beer, and a lovely poem written and read by Alison Brackenbury.
Then in Episode Two: Beginnings, we join Ms. Harrison as she strolls to the next village and back again in the warm April air. Liz Berry and her two boys are the remotely recorded segment, and one of her own poems is featured.
And lest you assume that our hostess in this auditory visit is violating the UK’s breathtakingly harsh physical distancing edicts, she assures us all of her upright and law abiding behavior: “I live, walk and work alone; audio production and editing on this podcast is done remotely. All social distancing regulations are being followed, and all government advice will be adhered to.”
In the swirling maelstrom of fear, chaos, and uncertainty that has become the daily existence (I refuse to call it life) of so many of us today, Ms. Harrison’s new podcast is not simply a breath of fresh air, it is a veritable lifeline to all that is good and green and bright in the world. It should be subscribed, downloaded, saved, listened to, and then listened to again and again, as often as needed.
