Its called a labour of love
The scraping and sanding
The careful preparation and maintenance
Maintaining a thing of beauty
In this case the labour of love was my dear old boat
Crafted from Huon pine with precision and pride nearly 50 years ago
A finely crafted floating jewel box
So yes a labour of love
The fine sanding
The careful masking so the lines are crisp
The laying on of the paint and varnish
To bring her beauty alive
Yes a labour of love
Maybe it’s a metaphor for a life of love.
Its a spring night
Cold
Crisp
Still
The full moon a bright orb in the sky
Shedding silver light over the still waters of the bay
On the train from the midlands to London. I listened to The Clash, London Calling.
Its both a distopian and resilient view of London. It seemed fitting as a bombing in the tube had set a sombre tone.
But London is London no matter.
Despite the confrontation London open day was in full swing as was Thames week.
And it gave a little sometime for mariner like me.
These 10 Thames barges had sailed up the river.
And were using their motors against the ebb tide to hold formation still in the water. Such seamanship.
And really there is something special about the English is their way with the sea and boats.
Be it Drake’s Golden Hind
Or the uniquely English narrow boats that carried goods and produce from the midlands to London prior to rail
And now provide floating pleasure.
So I did go to London!
Overlooking Newcastle upon Tyne the is the Angel of the North
An imposing piece of public art that hovers on a hill above the Tyne and Newcastle.
There were also some angels of the north at Mo Tech the Moto Guzzi dealer in Newcastle.
The provided me a bit of space out the weather to make a running repair.
Angels come in different forms
A hundred and fifty years ago Glasgow was the second city of the empire
A centre of heavy industry such as shipbuilding and textile manufacture
A centre of design, typified by the Glasgow architecture.
But a century or so later Glasgow was struggling to survive as a city.
Unemployment, poverty and significant population decline challenging the future of the once great city
While in the UK, in Australia, there is tension and a struggle about accepting migrants and refugees.
For Glasgow, have stabilised it’s population.
The cities motto “People make Glasgow” a reflection of the more diverse international city it has become.
People make Glasgow proudly on the new skyline.
Maybe we should all be thinking about people, humanity.
