Nighttime on Still Waters
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© 2024 Nighttime on Still Waters
Description
A narrowboat-based audio journal on canal life, living aboard, the elements, and the night. Perfect late-night listening for dreamers, insomniacs, night owls, nocturnalists, drifters, and nomads. For lovers Fagen's 'Nightfly', Auden's 'Night Mail', Hopper's 'Nighthawks' and the 'drifting sea-dark streets' of Dylan Thomas. For all those who used to listen to the transistor under your pillow, love the sound of distant trains and rain against the windowpanes, canals and drover's tracks, lost music, splashed puddles, fireflies and bats, hares by moonlight, windsong among pines, owl-light, the shipping forecast, and all the wonderful, terrifying, grand and tawdry avenues of the night. Cosy listening for bedtimes.
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Send us a textRecently, Britain experienced a blocking high pressure system, leading to an extended period of ‘anticyclonic gloom.’ Such are the conditions in which myths are created and as Blodeuwedd and Lleu indicate might still be created. Journal entry:15th November, FridayEarly light. Thick mist Licked with salmon On the eastern edge. Frost glitters Along the cabin roof And rimes hoary On the solar panels.Rooks pour off The music stave Of...
Send us a textTwo rather wonderful things have happened recently that has prompted this episode to take a reflective look back at this podcast and the journey we have taken together. Join us tonight on NB Erica as we celebrate sharing these night-times on still waters. Journal entry:31st October, Thursday, Samhain – All Hallow’s Eve“Still air. Wood smoke blends with night mist. A tawny’s call shivers Across the fields to the south.I pass a couple of boats With pumpkin...
Send us a textTonight, we are hunkered down awaiting another storm. So, come and join us for a cosy night as we reflect on the fairly unique nature of canal-life and the community that it supports, with thanks to Wayne (NB Spudley) for drawing attention to a great new canal-based charity and some wise words from Rich (by Bike & Boat). Journal entry: 16th October, Wednesday“October drips onwards.The towpath washed with mud And brushed silvers Wet with fallen leaf&...
Send us a textJoin us on the narrowboat Erica on a moonless, star-filled night as we celebrate autumns, real and imagined, present and remembered. Although October (at the moment) is far from 'golden', it is apple picking time mem ries of which take us meandering down the wandering paths of my childhood.Journal entry:3rd October, Thursday“Afterglow of sunlight Ash etched into ice blue Overseen by a watching rook.Smoke curls Listless on no wind. Cabin lights call me home.”E...
Send us a textDid you know that ducks participate in ‘coordinated loafing’? But that might not be the only surprising/endearing thing about them. Tonight, we celebrate the joy ducks bring thanks to video posted by a stranger in Canada.Journal entry: 20th September, Friday“Hanging at the still-point between Summer and winter’s Swing and counter-swing.Rooks roister joyously westwards, Red with promise. Above them, fourteen successive Straggles of geese Head ea...
Send us a textJoin us tonight as Erica a wends ‘snailward’ home through a heavy rain storm - recorded, aptly enough, during another heavy rain storm! Hear also about our adventures with a drowning pigeon.Journal entry:3rd September, Tuesday“Cruising through a Hiroshige Woodblock print; Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge. Even the reeds look like bamboo.A heron pilots us home.” Episode Information:During this episode I read a short poem by Issa and read some of the lyrics fro...
Send us a textTraditionally, August has been the time for Britons to head off to the seaside for their annual holiday. This week’s episode celebrates this custom and causes me to reconsider the momentous moment when I saw the sea for the first time. Journal entry:23rd August, Friday“All night the winds blew; Battering and hooliganing Around the boat. Perhaps that’s why I woke In a disquieted mood.I stand on the bank And feel my feet set squarely On th...
Send us a textWe’re on HOLIDAY! And so, a rather truncated and spur of the moment podcast tonight. However, join us as we enjoy a spot of tranquillity canal-style. We also hear a lovely story from one of our long-time listeners and lock-wheelers. Journal entry:25th July, Thursday“The sun flashes off the canal in a shimmering dance of light.Sweet fruit hang amid The dappled leaves and butterflies, Rotting on the higher branches. We below them look up Rueing such ...
Send us a textJoin me tonight as I recount a strange and rather unnerving experience that I had just over a week ago, of feeling as if I were walking in the footsteps of Meursault, the main character of one of my favourite books, Albert Camus’ The Outsider. Please note that this episode contains themes relating to death and cremation.Journal entry:25th July, Thursday“First light of iron and steel. A mist of rain On the back of A wind from the south.A raven calls from the T...
Send us a textThere are times that can touch us deeply. Very often they are not about finding a place of peace or somewhere outstandingly beautiful. It is something else. Something beyond these things. It is about encountering something wonderful, and being spun by wonderment. Join us tonight as we recover from dragging a very smelly and wet dog out of the canal! Journal entry:13th July, Saturday“Loosestrife sets alight The greyness of the day With purple fire.Chiff...
Send us a textThis episode was inspired by a sentence in Beth Kempton's Wabi Sabi and explores how calendars can connect us more closely to the world around us. Join us tonight as we explore the year through the eyes of some Japanese poets and celebrate the unfolding of the summer. Journal entry: 25th June, Tuesday“First day this summer Of real heat. All day, my shirt has stuck To my back.This evening The clover field Hums with The work of bees.”&...
Send us a textJoin us on a wet and windy night as, tonight, we listen the strange and untameable tale of Fionnghuala, Oadh, Fiacra and Conn, the children of Lir, and meet up with our own (children of the) children of Lir who share their own wild mythologies. I also give an explanatory statement about the YouTube podcast channel.Journal entry:11th June, Tuesday“Standing knee deep In a green ocean of grass. The woodpecker’s Seagull laughter Tumbles among the tree...
Send us a textSometimes episodes have a mind of their own and take you to unplanned places they think you need to go. This is one of those episodes. One ‘soft’ Sunday morning in May in John Clare country.Journal entry: 31st May, Friday“Standing looking south-west Across the vale. Four ducks circle above the water. Then swoop down and land in unison.The fields and hills in the distance Fade into soft light.” Episode Information:In this episode I read John Clare’s ...
Send us a textIn tonight’s episode we meet a couple of beautiful spring flowers with some fearsome reputations and go about spring cleaning a very messy and cluttered boat with the help of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.Journal entry:8th May, Wednesday.“A May evening of golden haze And drifting willow down And the busy day winds down.Nearby, lambs call as mothers graze and nuzzle Beyond them, chiff-chaff, robin, and bluetit. Further distant, the sound of childre...
Send us a textIn tonight’s episode we meet a couple of beautiful spring flowers with some fearsome reputations and go about spring cleaning a very messy and cluttered boat with the help of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.Journal entry: 20th April, Saturday“A ring of coltsfoot heads has been placed In the crevice of an oak-beam used as a picnic table. They lie bleached and desiccated Shrouded in fine cobweb and dust. They look just like the vestige Of so...
Send us a textFor us the river of the year has, so far, been roaring and fierce. It is difficult, at times, to see the bank or to even know whether we are floating or sinking. However, that is only one small part of the picture. What follows is a rather incoherent attempt to find coherence amid the noise. Journal entry:10th April, Wednesday“This morning dawned in chilled silver I wore my coat up to my chin. Now the sun is out And coltsfoot down dances On a warm...
Send us a textAs the slow march of Spring travels along the canal and towpaths, tonight I answer two more questions: How do we keep the boat from freezing when we have to leave it unattended, and how long does it normally take to buy a narrowboat?Journal entry:7th March, Thursday.“A grey wind blows From a grey sky Troubling the surface Of the canal.Damson blossom Torn from branch Spun snow-like With each gust.Sweet smell of woodsmoke And the throat-catch of ...
Send us a textAs a family, we gained a reputation for the way our 'short walks' often turned into marathon hikes which invariably meant staggering home long after dark (usually without a torch). In this week’s episode I reminisce on the lessons learnt, their prescient significance, and living in a culture that does growing old and dying so astonishingly badly.Journal entry:24th February, Saturday.“Cloud cliffs, grey and climbing Early spring sunshine Catching the stonework tra...
Send us a textWelcome aboard the NB Erica on a wet winter’s night. It is a perfect night to snuggle down and listen to JM Synge’s turn of the 20th century accounts of his travels to the Aran Islands in a small currach on stormy seas. Journal entry:14th February, Wednesday (St. Valentine’s Day)“Outside, No coat, On the hill that runs down to the cut.Warm sun, fleeting, Cloud chasing with the gulls And the circle of two buzzards.Maggie sits, watching, From a throne...
Send us a textIt has been a rather tempestuous year so far! Currently, I am many miles from the boat and have not been able to record any podcasts. I have rather rushed this episode out to update you on the reasons why I have been so quiet of late and to bring you up to date with what has been happening. Apologies for the sound quality of this episode. I do not have my recording gear with me at the moment. Episode Information:In this episode I read parts of the lyrics from ‘Sit Dow...
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