The fresh, motionless still night enfolded the earth.

I've heard them any amount of times in the course of the past fortnight: the great, soft boom that carries for a mile across a still night.

Yet reuniting has not been without its pain, and there are still nights when we weep together.

Tremulous encounters with strangers, small creatures in big, threatening landscapes, still nights, dark stairwells and rain-lashed picnics come vividly to life.