Thanks for your interesting account, James. I was spooked! My swimming ‘lessons’ were a careless mix of threat, pride and fear. I rarely swim these days, and when I do I have the odd sensation that most of me is left on the bank, something to return to recalibrated - -and that I have somehow got away with something.
Thanks Nick. I resonate with that. My wife won't even go into a swimming pool alone. But she was brought up on the coast of South Africa and knew someone who was killed by a shark.
Love the cover painting, it's beautiful. As to water, my first impulse is to immerse myself in it: tarns, lochs, rivers, sea: I want to be in it, feeling its cold breath on my skin, being moved by buoyancy, currents, waves, eye-level with the surface. I do love mud and bog also. I used to swim in the Wye but don't anymore, due to the pollution, I really miss it.
Thank you. Wow, I'm impressed! I've swum in the Wye lots at Hay. I always have to force myself though. I'd love to want to rush in. I think pollution is part of it. I remember swimming in the clear waters of the med once, swam out to a yacht, and then was engulfed by toilet roll and matter.
I'm with you on the value of quiet reserves. It's so important to have places where we can escape the intrusion of modern life and as you say, it should be relatively easy to achieve.
Love the cover! Absolutely brilliant. And of course where water is concerned you need to take heed, particularly with lakes and streams which DO NOT have buoyant water unlike the sea, but then with the sea you need to take notice of the tides and rips, particularly here in Australia. I have always lived by the water but as much as I love looking at it, like you, I have a fear of it.
Great read. I have the exact same issue with open water. I’ve always put it down to something primal within me. As a result We made sure that our kids were Uber comfortable and confident in water. Even so I still twitch when they’re in water with any kind of current.
Thanks Mark. Our youngest was very confident in water as you can imagine from the story. He didn't seem to mind drowning. Lots of scary moments with him!
The painting is beautiful and I very much look forward to receiving the ebook. As for swimming in open water though, I’m totally with your three-year-old’s approach!
Love the cover art and the images of the reservoir. Really looking forward to the book of essays.
Thanks Melanie. Coming soon( I don't have a firm date as I'm still tinkering!)
I often feel a bit spooked by reservoirs. Something not quite right about them, and your words make me think about why that might be. Thank you.
They're so deep! And dark, and cold. When I put my foot into the Claerwen reservoir it is icy even in summer, much colder than the sea.
Thanks for your interesting account, James. I was spooked! My swimming ‘lessons’ were a careless mix of threat, pride and fear. I rarely swim these days, and when I do I have the odd sensation that most of me is left on the bank, something to return to recalibrated - -and that I have somehow got away with something.
Thanks Nick. I resonate with that. My wife won't even go into a swimming pool alone. But she was brought up on the coast of South Africa and knew someone who was killed by a shark.
Love the cover painting, it's beautiful. As to water, my first impulse is to immerse myself in it: tarns, lochs, rivers, sea: I want to be in it, feeling its cold breath on my skin, being moved by buoyancy, currents, waves, eye-level with the surface. I do love mud and bog also. I used to swim in the Wye but don't anymore, due to the pollution, I really miss it.
Thank you. Wow, I'm impressed! I've swum in the Wye lots at Hay. I always have to force myself though. I'd love to want to rush in. I think pollution is part of it. I remember swimming in the clear waters of the med once, swam out to a yacht, and then was engulfed by toilet roll and matter.
I'm with you on the value of quiet reserves. It's so important to have places where we can escape the intrusion of modern life and as you say, it should be relatively easy to achieve.
Thanks Ruth. Let's start a campaign!
Love the cover! Absolutely brilliant. And of course where water is concerned you need to take heed, particularly with lakes and streams which DO NOT have buoyant water unlike the sea, but then with the sea you need to take notice of the tides and rips, particularly here in Australia. I have always lived by the water but as much as I love looking at it, like you, I have a fear of it.
Thanks Sally. Rips scare me and I can't read them, but a surfer told me what to look out for recently.
Those two curlews - in that particular bit of sky/air/water-vapour space - are exquisite.
Thanks Liz!
Great read. I have the exact same issue with open water. I’ve always put it down to something primal within me. As a result We made sure that our kids were Uber comfortable and confident in water. Even so I still twitch when they’re in water with any kind of current.
Thanks Mark. Our youngest was very confident in water as you can imagine from the story. He didn't seem to mind drowning. Lots of scary moments with him!
The painting is beautiful and I very much look forward to receiving the ebook. As for swimming in open water though, I’m totally with your three-year-old’s approach!