The quickest route to the station saves seven minutes. It runs along the bypass, under a bridge that drips in all weathers, and I have never once enjoyed it.
The other way goes past a pear tree, a gate painted the colour of a robin, and a house with a different lamp in every window. I know the lamps better than some of my neighbours.
Seven minutes is a lot, on a cold morning. But I have started leaving earlier, and I have not missed a train yet.
— Elin Cardew