This month…
Like so many people, since March I’ve been WFH (working from home). Producing this magazine remotely, with a talented team scattered around the country, has brought its fair share of challenges. But I’m lucky to have a bright, airy office with uninterrupted views over the surrounding fields. The connection I have felt with nature during this time has given me a comforting sense of perspective in such a rollercoaster year. Right now, the fields outside my window are a patchwork of rich clay-browns and muted greens – some fields fallow and others planted up with winter crops. Witnessing the changing seasons has been a poignant reminder that, while we humans have been rocked by the pandemic, the natural world continues to turn regardless.
That’s not to say, of course, that nature doesn’t have its own epidemics to contend with – and I am reminded of that on my daily walks with my Labrador Bernie. As we crunch through the autumn leaves in the local wood, we see many trees blighted by ash dieback. I was shocked to discover from our executive editor Vicky Carlisle, who was researching our campaigning piece to save our trees (p100), that there are 27 notifiable pests and pathogens affecting tens of thousands of iconic British trees. Do, please, take a look at our feature to find out how we can all help them fight back.
Elsewhere in the issue, we bring you some of our best-loved nature writers and photographers: Robert Macfarlane on the many faces of the red fox (p118); Simon King on fleeing cheetahs (p36); and James Rebanks on a ghostly encounter with the local wildlife on his Cumbrian farm (p96). Plus, we also have my old friend Sally Coulthard dispensing excellent advice on what to do when wildlife comes inside (p72). I could have done with that last week when a bat caused pandemonium flying into our kitchen…
Finally, coming back to my little desk at home, we have an indispensable guide to updating your workspace (p42). While I can be quite smug about the view from my office window, I am less proud of the slightly chaotic filing ‘system’ usually hidden off-camera when I do my video conference calls.
I did repaint the room during lockdown but I shall certainly be looking for more tips to style it up, as WFH becomes the new norm. Yet another ‘project’ for the long, dark evenings ahead…