Then you’ll spread your wings and take to the sky

This weekend, to make a change from caching, and because it’s been tooooo hot for long hikes, and because we’ve only just got roofbars for the ‘new’ car, and also because it’s been chained to the hedge since we got burglarified, we decided to get the canoe into the water again and go for a paddle. So we hoisted it onto the roof and set off for Leamington, where the river flows through a park and there’s a boat-hire place and they don’t mind people putting their own boats in there. Luckily we’re good enough paddlers to be able to steer it okay so didn’t make an ass of ourselves with an audience; in fact we could hear “Oh that looks fun, why don’t we do that?” as we glided under the bridge. It’s a lovely place, because as soon as you’re under the road bridge at the end of the park you’re in open countryside on the edge of town with only the wildlife for company. It was a beautiful evening – the sun was still hot but the trees on the banks provided shade; the fish were jumping and I’m sure the cotton was high. On one stretch we saw a heron perched in a tree,
but it took off as we approached, along with a pair of ducks. I was cursing the shutter-delay of the camera because there was one perfect moment when the three birds were framed in a gap in the branches, flying in formation like the Battle of Britain Flight, with a Lancaster bomber leading, supported by two fighters. But by the time the picture took, they were out of sight around the corner. Dammit! I need a digital that obeys! Anyway we paddled for half an hour upstream, then turned for home. Messing about on the river is the best way to unwind.