For an hour, till greyness covered all, the water shone…

“Their rapid, shifting, dancing motion had been so deft and graceful that it was difficult to believe that hunger was the cause of it…

— J.A. Baker

“Dark against the bright rust of the dead leaves, an unfledged starling lay flabbily upon its back. It was loose-skinned, helpless, and frog-like. Its…

— J.A. Baker

“Weak people revenge Strong people forgive Intelligent people ignore Anon.”

— J.A. Baker

“And for the partridge there was the sun suddenly shut out, the foul flailing blackness spreading wings above, the roar ceasing, the blazing knives…

— J.A. Baker

“The morning slept like a snake in the unaccustomed warmth.”

— J.A. Baker

“The unchecked growth of many summers, rising and declining, has lessened the penetration of the light in a way one rarely sees in farmland…

— J.A. Baker

“It is a good life, a seal's, here in these shallow waters. Like the lives of so many air and water creatures, it seems…

— J.A. Baker

“It is an effort to descend down the hand-holds of memory to the plain beneath, to recall the lost future, the dusk hovering above…

— J.A. Baker

“Acceptance is easier than resentment and anger. So is forgiveness.”

— J.A. Baker

“Bar-tailed godwits flying with curlew, with knot, with plover; seldom alone, seldom settling; snuffling eccentrics; long-nosed, loud-calling sea-rejoicers; their call a snorting, sneezing, mewing,…

— J.A. Baker

“The trees did not reflect the sun so much as glow from within, as though their bark was of parchment, a membrane through which…

— J.A. Baker

“This is now a different place from what it was two hours ago. There is no mysterious essence we can call a 'place'. Place…

— J.A. Baker

“The hawkless valley bloomed with the soft voices of the waking owls.”

— J.A. Baker

“Typical, isn’t it? Just when you start to think your tiny existence isn’t so bad after all, something comes along and gives you a…

— J.A. Baker

“Approach him across open ground with a steady unfaltering movement. Let your shape grow in size but do not alter its outline. Never hide…

— J.A. Baker