6/7/2017 Whimsical weather dampened my straw hat, but not our enjoyment of the descent of the Marple flight of 16 locks. At the bottom, a landscape of an aqueduct carrying the canal, adjacent to a high, arched railway viaduct, with the distant Pennines framed in each arch. Working a lock involves one person on the boat, the other on the bank. The boat person has to thread the boat, 6' 8" wide, into the 7' 2" wide lock. Get it wrong, and 20 tonnes of steel boat hits solid stone. An embarrassing moment, and another scratch on the boat. When the boat is in the lock, and water is rushing in to raise or lower the boat, the boat hamdler must avoid being swamped by leaky locks or lockgates more resembling a waterfall. Leaving one lock to enter the next might involve holding it steady in a wind or against the pull of an overflow channel, while the lock is being readied. The boat person also needs to make cups of tea, pass up raincoats, find hats. The shore person does ...
22/5/2019 A week in York, moored against the Museum Gardens. |Fine weather, dreaming ancient stones, walking the walls, relatives and friends visiting. Photo above taken late evening from our kitchen window. Henrietta, an European eagle owl, with another bird! My last coffee in York, at our fave little cafe. Kitchen bench with irises.
Y Two nights ago we are in a folk club in Oberhafen, singing, laughing, clapping to music from South America, Ireland, Germany....Much we don't understand, monolingual travellers that we are. Our friend plays the piano with elan, Tim Winton virtuosity. A happy few hours in the company of friends of 50 years. I met them through Lady Luck, them as newly weds exploring Australia, me teaching English in an evening class to save for my own travels. That instant rapport which you seize for the prize it is. Friends for life. We were to be together in a hill town in Piedmont. The plan from.last year. But illness has struck one member of our Swiss family. We circle wagons, recall memories, listen to our friend's reflections on his life, affirm his legacy. His journey is almost done, and we grieve together. He is a master jeweller, created unique pieces. A fine clever father husband friend. An expert mushroomer. A subtle wicked sense of humour. A fierce g...
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