Steps out of Step

Send us Fan MailA week of glorious spring weather has heightened springtime activity along the canal sides and nearby fields. It also coincides with a particularly busy period personally. My response and those of the birds and animals around could not be more different. We dip our toes into the worlds of the polar north and the work of Kosuke Koyama to explore some possible explanations for this.  Journal entry:25th March, Friday“The fresh sun glances off the surface of the canal with a shimmering, silver warmth, that sets the night-time chill a-dance.A clutch of moorhens squabble, fluster, scold, and court, in plain view, transforming the dark waters into a crystal maelstrom. It is so unlike their normally timorous behaviour. A mallard pair doze in the sunshine on the bank.I stand on the stern deck and beat the dust of winter from our rugs. We have stepped into spring.”Episode Information:In this episode I make a brief mention of the work of Knud Rasmussen. You can read his account of his work and explorations in:Knud Rasmussen People of the Polar North: A record published in 1908 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. I also mention Kathleen Jamie’s beautifully written, insightful, and extremely thought-provoking book Surfacing published in 2019 by Penguin Random House. Kosuke Koyama’s Three Mile an Hour God has just been re-issued (2021) by SCM Press. David Johns’ canals and boating vlog Cruising the Cut can be found here: Cruising the CutMore information about Nighttime on Still WatersYou can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. General DetailsIn the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org. Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.All other audio recorded on site. ContactFor pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPodI would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. Support the showBecome a 'Lock-Wheeler'Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.ContactFacebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon. For more information about Nighttime on Still WatersYou can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.