A view from the bridge

After dropping Helena at her Tuesday teaching job near Brimscombe, I had a quick wander down by the river. On the approach to the office we had noticed two swans on a bank beside the River Frome, sitting in the sun. One had its neck tucked into its back feathers, while the other was grooming itself.

By the time i returned on foot, the groomer was in the deep shade, while the sleeper was still in bright sun, so nearly impossible to photograph them both at once. as I stood just enjoying being on the bank of the river, I noticed a squirrel climbing vertically down the trunk of a large tree whose roots were dug into both the bankside and the water itself. The squirrel then gingerly approached the lapping water in the swiftly flowing river and started to drink. It was half-hidden by branches and by the time I moved to get a clear shot, I disturbed it and it ran away. I don't remember ever seeing one drink like that before.

I then walked about fifty yards to the small bridge,wide enough for one vehicle, with brick sides to it. l stood looking over the edge into the water on the side where its flow was leaving the bridge in the direction of Stroud, about two miles downstream. I noticed right beneath me a thin branch seemingly trapped at one end in the gravel in the river bed. Where it emerged from the surface, it was moving backwards and forwards, and then from side to side, as it was buffeted by the flowing stream. Every moment the patterns of the ripples changed revealing reflecting and refracting the light into beautiful patterns.

I love watching water flow, wherever it is, and I was always intrigued by wave-form machines when studying physics at school. I've spent many hours at it ever when sitting beside many oceans and seas, rivers and lakes. I indulged myself for a few more minutes today.