So many people are feeling vulnerable at the moment, there is a palpable sense of fear.
Near us fields have been set alight alongside the river and although no animals were injured it could have been very different if the alarm hadn’t been raised so rapidly.
Home owners, wondering if their home will be next to be affected by wildfires. People evacuated, boat dwellers who have had to move their boats rapidly to avoid fires, and others who feel trapped because they are unable to move due to a lack of water.
The heat is incessant and it brings alarm, despair and destruction in its wake.
It all seems so different from just a week ago.
Last weekend around 10,000 people descended on a small Leicestershire village for a day of fun and celebration, an amazing village event complete with a Hurricane and Spitfire fly past, free sessions on the river, a huge parade, competitions, foods from across the globe, stalls and a vibrancy which cut through the heat. As volunteers we were on the go all day buoyed by the sheer joy around us (and the odd pint in a pub!).
This weekend looks like being very different. We are all praying the promised cooler temperatures are genuinely arriving. People walking past on the towpath receiving the emergency alert sent across England and Wales, their phones shrill with the alarm and it is causing alarm to some. Fortunately I haven’t seen any of the many paddle boarders fall in, in shock!
I am writing this sitting outside on the bow with a gentle breeze just building, moving the reeds opposite and for the first time in weeks there is the sound of tree leaves rustling. It makes me realise how hot and still and silent it has been without any wind. The level of the river continues to drop, stones on the bank opposite are my guide. There are now three courses of stones above the water. When we moored here last week there was one.
For the first time in days the river around the boat is moving, ripples caused by the breeze, not by the nearby lock being used as it rarely is now, with this section being an effective dead end due to closures ahead of us. Closures which make it look like yet again we will have to retrace our steps and then join a queue, or two.
This natural movement around the boat has the feeling of hope. The oppressive heat of the day is easing, and there is a promise even of rain tonight with a thunderstorm. For once, that would be welcome.
All this makes us count our blessings. That we have water under the boat, that if there was a fire nearby we could move, that we are so close to nature that the slightest change communicates itself to us instantly.
We have had a chance to meet up with friends this week, to share meals and conversations in person which has been a delight. A chance to see the eclipse (not through a colander but fortunately through our younger daughter’s pictures!
Today we have travelled too, not far, just a few miles. It was special. We had more friends with us on the boat, and were joined en route by chance by another boaty friend. Their appreciation of the river, the wildlife and the beauty we have around us every day was yet another reminder of how fortunate we are to have chosen this way of life. We know it is changing, we know we need to adapt as nature does to climatic upheavals, but we will be grateful for what we have while we have it. Our teamwork came into play again with the Skipper reversing and me wielding the fishing net now showing its age after 5 years of rubbish collection but this time, it was to fish out one of our hats we’d lent to a guest and which got knocked into the Soar!
Stay safe, keep cool and give yourself the green light to enjoy the little things in life.
Pickingupducks 