Evening on the river

Another beautiful summer evening spent gently paddling across a glass flat silence through the slowly gathering shadows. Back at the landing stage, in turn, each boat slides in with a ripple and a rumble as she is pulled out onto the grass. A minimum of chat, shared laughter as we haul them across the grass to the boat house. The rattle of paddles as they go back in their racks, a general shedding of gear - voices still low under the slowly dissipating spell of the river and the dusk. I stow my gear in the car and walk out onto the old toll bridge, look down at the reflected sky, the glimmer of the first yellow lights of the night time, the detritus of scaffolding and tools left by the workmen on their barge, moored tight to the bridge piers. I savour the moment, make it last, then fail to do it justice in pixels