Last ferry

of the day on Ulllswater

I took this because the prow of the boat reminded me of the course last weekend. When I took the shot I didn't know I was about to talk to the weary ferryman. As he was locking up I was about to head off on my bike but just as I was leaving I noticed discarded barbecues that had been left behind, probably from the previous night and I asked him if I could put them in their dustbin. I don't know why people can't take them away after they've finished with them - it really disheartens me. He kindly obliged but looked so weary ... it may all look idyllic and the 'perfect' job but he said he'd had a long day and said it was full of people being unreasonable. He seemed so dejected I think the abandoned barbecues were the last straw. I think I'll have to go back and take him a bar of chocolate or something next time I cycle down there.

Passing the still empty and boarded houses along the river, I thought of Paula's blip and someone I spoke to last week who is only just moving back to her home....
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2215509450205169434

Spirit...
I think that's my word, for now anyway ... I've been subconsciously thinking about it since last weekend (trouble is, it's part of the Trust's ridiculous values 'Kindness, Fairness, Ambition, Spirit' ... and there's nothing like corporate values to put you off a word ... oh, well, I'll see how it goes for a bit...)


In fact I was reminded of the following poem and it fits ...


Breath by Don Paterson - translation of Rilke from 'Orpheus'

Breath, you invisible poem -
pure exchange, sister to silence,
being and its counterbalance,
rhythm wherein I become,
ocean I accumulate
by stealth, by the same slow wave;
thriftiest of seas... Thief
of the whole cosmos! What estates,
what vast spaces have already poured
through my lungs? The four winds
are like daughters to me.
So do you know me, air, that once sailed through me?
You, that were once the leaf and rind
of my every word?