The Skylight

You were the one for skylights. I opposed
Cutting into the seasoned tongue-and-groove
Of pitch pine. I liked it low and closed,
Its claustrophobic, nest-up-in-the-roof
Effect. I liked the snuff-dry feeling,
The perfect, trunk-lid fit of the old ceiling.
Under there, it was all hutch and hatch.
The blue slates kept the heat like midnight thatch.

But when the slates came off, extravagant
Sky entered and held surprise wide open.
For days I felt like an inhabitant
Of that house where the man sick of the palsy
Was lowered through the roof, had his sins forgiven, Was healed, took up his bed and walked away.

- Seamus Heaney

I saw several interesting skylights today, but this one won because of what I saw through it - the top of the church spire - "extravagant sky entered and held surprise wide open." The Court House Manor, where we are staying is situated next to a lovely church which has 99 yew trees in the church yard, all trimmed into interesting shapes.

We walked along the Cotswold Way today, up to a high point at Painswick Beacon so we could get a good view of the beautiful Cotswold countryside.
Then we had lunch at a cafe and walked round the beautiful and very interesting Rococo Gardens.