When you live and work in a different way to the norm – when your commute is a stroll along a 50ft boat, when your office desk is your dining table set under the gunwales, when glancing up from your computer you see calming ripples on water, swans bringing their new family along for a snack and at this time of year, ducklings jumping in ungainly leaps from the water to catch a tasty insect for a snack – that’s when you know you are lucky.
As with everything though it is easy to become complacent, to take things for granted, and sometimes it needs a fresh pair of eyes (or pairs of eyes) to remind you how wonderful it is to live and work this way.
For the second time in two years we’ve hosted a preschool on board – we don’t move the boat with them but invite them on to see what it’s like to live and work on a narrowboat. Young children have a remarkable capacity for spotting things many of us miss.
We trooped them down a gangplank at the stern and after exploring the length of the boat, we trooped them off another gangplank at the bow. We counted them in and out making sure none had stowed away.
They were accepting of our difference but aware of similarities with how we live. They commented that we have a washing machine in a wardrobe at the end of our bed whilst theirs sits in a kitchen, utility or lean-to. They didn’t think it strange, just observed it was different.
One four-year old sagely said of our boat: “It’s got everything and you don’t have bits you don’t use.” How true!
What really made them envious was sitting in the bow attuning their eyes to watch fish darting in and out off the weeds below; seeing the brilliantly bright metallic blues and greens of the banded demoiselles (aka dragonflies in their minds) flitting across the water to land on lily pads; and the luxury of having all this available all day long.
It was a lesson for them that our waterways are precious, that we all need to care for them. Whether we boat or canoe, kayak or fish, walk or cycle alongside them, our waterways are havens running like ribbons across our countryside, nurturing us as much as they nurture wildlife.
The children learned that not everyone lives in a house made from bricks and mortar, that we should recognise the strengths of living in alternative ways that don’t harm others, and in many cases actively support the environments in which we live. It isn’t about judging people but accepting each other. We talked about fishing out plastics and rubbish from canals and rivers as we cruise, of looking after the beauty around us, and I hope as they grow up these delightful, aware youngsters, will continue to value their surroundings.
They missed the misty morning sunrises, the stunning evening sunsets and candyfloss clouds handing in the water around us but their lessons are ones for us all – don’t take anything for granted, guard what it precious and appreciate the daily delights that surround us, however we choose to live and work.
Pickingupducks 