Voices From The Crow's Nest

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content below. If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content below. If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content here . If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content here . If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content here . If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content here . If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

(After you have read these introductory paragraphs once, you can skip to the new/old content here . If you are listening, then the time stamp is around the two minute 45 second mark.) Introduction The word settled, to me, carries connotations I am keen to avoid. I have never felt settled or, perhaps, I cannot recall a time I felt settled. I do not feel settled now, writing this, and I’ve lived in...

As I send this, it is precisely midwinter, here in the northern hemisphere at least. Summer feels a long time ago. However, despite the darkness, midwinter has always been a time of light, a time of warmth, and a time of celebration. The sunlight is about to return, as we sneakily pilfer it from our friends in the south, a few minutes here, a few minutes there, day by day, slowly—so slow they bare...

I recently shared the final part of A Fall In Time with those of you who are subscribed to that section; this was the day-by-day and week-by-week communion with nature I was lucky enough to experience back in 2010—there shall be more to come on A Fall In Time, next year. If you are new, or have no idea what I am talking about, essentially I left my job, my friends and family, and headed out into t...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-twelve-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comm...

Introduction Sometimes, a thing becomes a habit almost by accident. I’ve never been one for looking at a year from the point of view of our manufactured calendrical New Year, a retrospective which never seems to fit, to me. Instead, I like to look for different places to mark the passing of time (obviously, the solstice is the beginning of the year, right?). Seasons, macro and micro, or anniversar...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-eleven-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comm...

Hello friends, I had hoped to have the third State of The Nest Address ready for today, it being the date of my self-chosen anniversary: six years of consistently sharing a letter with the world. However, that will have to wait a wee while longer, it is drafted, but neither edited nor formatted (and I have not even started recording the audio). I am busy with my belle-mère, finishing the surround...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-ten-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-nine-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a commen...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-eight If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment. I...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with the original, with all the videos and images mentioned, available here: If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment. I welcome all questions and will reply, even if it takes a while to do so. If you don’t want to miss a photo or word, then do consider subs...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment. I welcome all questions and will reply, even if it takes a while...

(And yes, that is me in the photo, inside my shelter.) This is an edited, extensive rework of a post I shared on my sister’s website, back in late October, 2010. As I have mentioned in this ongoing series, I would handwrite each blog post, photograph it on my trusty pre-smartphone, and send it to her to then transcribe, edit and post. For those of you who aren’t following my daily Notes from that...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-six-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment...

It is the season of sharing spookiness once more, that moment in our calendars when we seek out the thrill of fear. Today, I am sharing this story—I shared a version of this before, some years ago, but I am now privileged enough to have thousands more followers and subscribers here, so it seems wise to lightly edit and send again. I am sending it a bit before Halloween, as I shall also be sharing...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comment. I welcome all questions and will reply, even if it takes a while...

This letter is principally a rundown of the process I use to draft fiction, a process I have now used unaltered for over a decade. For me , this is what works best. The original version, which includes visual elements which make a wee bit more sense than the audio version, is available here: This letter is to tie in with another which is forthcoming. Thanks for listening and, if you do enjoy this,...

(Apologies for my mild croak, I’ve been fending off a cold for a couple of days, which seems to have made my voice sound a wee bit different to normal! Sorry! [Plenty of elderberry tincture is keeping it at bay, however!]) This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each po...

This podcast is also available as a series of letters (technically emails, but I prefer to think of them as letters), with an introduction featuring navigation links for each post as I share them, lots of photos, and more: The link for this particular episode is here: https://alexandermcrow.substack.com/p/a-fall-in-time-week-three-2025 If you have enjoyed listening to this, please do leave a comme...