Cloud Inversion by John Hanson
In the valley below me it is winter. Memories of Christmas fade, the solstice recedes further back still, and Meltham rests silently in a December dress of mist and mud, under a blanket of dolphin-grey cloud. On foot I climb ‘The Catch’; upwards past pine and stile to ascend further still into a world of light and colour; a breathless, sun-kissed world of warmth in which, God-like, I stand above cloud, valley, and all of creation. I have experienced nothing like this before in my life, save when, in my own dark days, that same sullen blanket settles itself about my heart to smother what light it finds within; but now, here on this hilltop, I know, all I ever need do is ascend.