I'm having one of those days! A day when I just feel like writing. Just writing to break the tedium of an everyday life. In a way, It's a welcome break from daydreaming about a life afloat. I suppose we all have dreams and aspirations of one kind or another, but for me a life living on the canals and rivers is the one.
My daydreams are always full of soft warm early morning sunshine, reflecting off the breeze dappled surface of the water. The margins full of reed and white flowering lily. Bordered by endless flood meadows of tall swaying grass, being grazed by sheep and cows. The river bank covered in tall willow trees, with branches weeping down to the waters surface. Tiny circles forming on the water from feeding fish just below the surface. Beneath, the willow is a colourful carpet of sweet scented wild flowers. All of this is accompanied by the slowly trailing off dawn chorus of springtime birdsong. Ahhh, now this is what idyllic daydreams are made of.
However, reality has shaken me from my half slumbers.
I will be leaving a job that I loved for the first twenty years. That was until higher education was messed around with, to the point where it became almost a battery farm producing “dolly the sheep” like graduate clones. I will leave, good friends, that now seem to be almost frivolous attachments that we will for the foreseeable future only see infrequently. Leaving behind a family home that has changed forever, now that it is devoid of any family. Its just become an asset that we are waiting for times to get better before selling and downsizing.
What will I do with myself.
I will do more writing, just because I will have the time to write about what I'm doing now. I will do more watching of wildlife, just because I will have the time to watch. I will do more painting just because I will have the time to paint. I will listen to the world around me, just because I will have the time to listen. I will even daydream about my old clock controlled life, just because I will have even more time to daydream.
The question is – when will it all begin.
My daydreams are always full of soft warm early morning sunshine, reflecting off the breeze dappled surface of the water. The margins full of reed and white flowering lily. Bordered by endless flood meadows of tall swaying grass, being grazed by sheep and cows. The river bank covered in tall willow trees, with branches weeping down to the waters surface. Tiny circles forming on the water from feeding fish just below the surface. Beneath, the willow is a colourful carpet of sweet scented wild flowers. All of this is accompanied by the slowly trailing off dawn chorus of springtime birdsong. Ahhh, now this is what idyllic daydreams are made of.However, reality has shaken me from my half slumbers.
Bringing me back to a different time and place. Yet, real life still has an interesting slant to put upon my daydreams. I know it will rain and some-days the rain will be driven horizontally by the wind. These will be the quiet days, holed up sitting out the weather. Sometimes it will even snow and the cut will even freeze over. These will be the few and far-between days with a winter-scape to enjoy, from the proximity of a warm stove. From time to time I expect the wind will blow just to make steering a bit more interesting. Then there will be those days when the weather will be hot without a breath of a cooling breeze. In contrast there will be other cool and cold days that will be shrouded in mist and clouds. But, I am still anxious for it all to begin.
What will I leave behind.
I will be leaving a job that I loved for the first twenty years. That was until higher education was messed around with, to the point where it became almost a battery farm producing “dolly the sheep” like graduate clones. I will leave, good friends, that now seem to be almost frivolous attachments that we will for the foreseeable future only see infrequently. Leaving behind a family home that has changed forever, now that it is devoid of any family. Its just become an asset that we are waiting for times to get better before selling and downsizing.
Its almost a Harry Potter existence in something of a parallel universe.
Yes, I know that I will have to comeback to the world of “muggles” from time to time. If only to pay a few bills or forage for food in the nearest supermarket. But technology also allows me to do many other things in isolation from the comfort of my long awaited daydream life. I can call friends or better still, they can call me. I can surf the web at will, if only to keep abreast news from the tow-path telegraph.
What will I gain from a life on the rivers and canals.
I don't honestly know and what's more, I don't even care if I only break even or if I make a loss for that matter! I do hope that life aboard, by its very nature will slow me down. That the ticking clock that has ruled my life for so long, will be replaced by the clock we call the seasons. My home will be everywhere and nowhere in particular. For some people I will be living the dream – for me I will be just enjoying life
What will I do with myself.
I will do more writing, just because I will have the time to write about what I'm doing now. I will do more watching of wildlife, just because I will have the time to watch. I will do more painting just because I will have the time to paint. I will listen to the world around me, just because I will have the time to listen. I will even daydream about my old clock controlled life, just because I will have even more time to daydream.The question is – when will it all begin.
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