Reading Roger Deakin’s immersing book “Wildwood, a Journey through trees” reminded me of hearing the poet Bejamin Zephaniah describe living and working in a cabin in the woods near Kärsu in Estonia. [I think I heard him talk about it on the radio but I cannot find a trace of it now.] He described the peace of working in a Walden-like cabin in the woods, disturbed only by a daily visiting bear.

Quote from an interview fragment in the Guardian

“I love to work in a tiny village called Kärsu in Estonia. I hire a cottage in the middle of a forest. There is nothing for miles around. No telephone or anything. I get up in the morning and go for a run or do some kung-fu in the woods, then jump in the sauna before settling down to write. Estonia seems very relaxed - not many people and lots of space. It has an almost Caribbean feel to it.

The only interruption occurs every lunchtime when a big black bear walks up to the house wanting to be fed. Sometimes he turns up with his woman, which can be dangerous if she’s got cubs. I give them some bread and jam and they disappear back into the trees.”