Nighttime on Still Waters
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noswpod.bsky.social
Nighttime on Still Waters
@noswpod.bsky.social
2.1K followers 2.2K following 990 posts
Hello, I am Richard. I live on the narrowboat Erica, seeking to create something beautiful in a conflicted & fragmented world.
Advocate of hedge-wisdom.

#naturewriting #canals #wonder #podcast #rain #night #rooks #myth #stormydays
https://www.noswpod.com/
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noswpod.bsky.social
Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · Nov 16

‪Welcome! I am Richard and I live aboard the narrowboat 'Erica' where I host a canal-based podcast that celebrates nature, life in a complicated world, the elements, and the night-time.
Trying to create a small place of beauty and peace in a complicated world.
www.noswpod.com
Nighttime on Still Waters
This is the Narrowboat 'Erica' narrowcasting into the night from somewhere on Britain's canals and waterways. A podcast that gently explores life afloat (and on la…
www.noswpod.com
noswpod.bsky.social
December comes
With sweeping rains.
Alder catkins glisten and drip,
Full of spring's promise.
A lone moorhen
Rows across the canal.

#DailyNature #poetry #December
#naturewriting #ukcanals
December 1, 2025 at 8:26 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
These are the days of the long nights when three quarters of our day is dark. It's a time for restoration and balance, to attend to our roots like the plants and trees around us. Join us as we journey into the night & listen to its silent stories.
#ukcanals #podcast
www.noswpod.com/night-silenc...
The Night Speaks with its Silences
These are the days of the long nights, when ¾ of our day gives way to the dark. If we listen carefully, their gifts are rich and restoring. In these strange times w…
www.noswpod.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
This morning, the kingfisher will wake up to a softer and easier day.
November 27, 2025 at 6:42 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Somewhere, in some city,
This rain is turning street lamps
Into haloes of light
But here, it hits the water
Creating koans
Written in canal water
With each perfect ensō
That fades into nothing
As they fade into everything.

#poetry #zen #bardo #rain
November 22, 2025 at 6:56 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
I know that there are lots of readers here and I am sure you are going to enjoy this. It's full of information, news, and an infectious enthusiasm for books and reading. Perfect for curling up with over a mug of your favourite beverage.
Love the name, too!! 😀🤎
jadewalker.bsky.social Jade Walker @jadewalker.bsky.social · 9d
This week's issue of The Moonlight Reader Society has been published. Read about fictional fiction, a newly discovered beat lit tale, the theory of Tuesday and the latest literary holidays moonlightreadersociety.substack.com/p/wanted-mor... 💙📚
Wanted: More time to read each day
Vol. 2, Issue 44
moonlightreadersociety.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Wintery rain on a cold wrapping wind that paints the city streets with a blurs of colour. The roads and pavements shine like foil.
At this hour, my office is silent.
I sit in its stillness and listen to the creaks of an empty building, waiting for the gulls to rise and greet the day.

#newmorning
November 19, 2025 at 6:55 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Join us for tonight's narrowcast as we enjoy the warm cosy setting of the Erica's snug cabin as we hunker down and listen to Storm Clauda as she rages around us.
#podcast #ukcanals #CosyListening #canals #narrowboat #storms #nature #weather
www.noswpod.com/colour-of-st...
The Colour of Storms (Storm Claudia passing through)
oin us tonight aboard the Erica’s warm and cosy cabin as storm Claudia rages outside. Let us experience together the intimate feeling of being snug and safe in a ti…
www.noswpod.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
In our remembering, we must REMEMBER.
November 11, 2025 at 10:56 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Golden leaves that sheltered me during the summer heat now rest upon the same still waters that carry me.
Hawthorn leaves stream upon slow wind eddies that I am unable to feel.
A squirrel looks down at Maggie.
My boots slide on mud.
Towpath tales.

#ukcanals #naturewriting #DailyNature
A gloriously golden coloured ball tree blazes in the light of a low western sun. Rafts of leaves lie on the mirrored waters that reflect the blue sky. A muddy towpath follows the line of the canal to the left. Maggie (black and white dog) sniffs the narrow grass that lies between towpath and canal.
November 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
The joy of the prospect
Of a coffee with a friend.
Looking forward to talking
And
Looking forward to the silences Between the words.

#poetry #MentalHealthAwareness #friendship
November 8, 2025 at 9:35 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
A November 5th related podcast from a few years back.

#podcast #bonfirenight #fireworks #guyfawkes #memories #nostalgia

www.noswpod.com/guy-fawkes/
When Guy Fawkes wore my old dressing gown
I've always felt that there is something rather singular about the month of November. Tonight I try to find out what it is and end up recounting the time when Guy F…
www.noswpod.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
This is wonderful (please read the alt texts - it's beautiful).
nowaykgn.bsky.social Vanishing and Endangered Cultures @nowaykgn.bsky.social · Oct 19
Imagine it. No toys forged in distant factories, no screens glowing with borrowed dreams. Just 52 rectangles of faded cardboard, edges curled from a thousand shuffles by hands before his. In a life stripped to essentials, imagination is the ultimate wealth.
At nine years old, his world is a frayed jacket passed down from an uncle lost to the snows, boots mended with sinew, and that single, sacred treasure: a battered deck of playing cards, scavenged from a tourist's discard pile in Leh. No toys forged in distant factories, no screens glowing with borrowed dreams. Just 52 rectangles of faded cardboard, edges curled from a thousand shuffles by hands before his. The kings and queens stare back with imperial indifference, their crowns mocking the barren horizon. But in Tenzin's grip, they're alchemy. One card missing—the three of hearts, torn away in a storm. He doesn't mourn it; absence is a lesson too. In this vast emptiness, where possessions are burdens carried on weary backs, that deck is freedom. It fits in a pocket, weighs nothing, yet holds infinities: games to banish boredom, stories to trade with strangers, even fuel for the fire if winter turns cruel. Come dusk, as the family gathers around a dung fire, he transforms the deck into music. Pressing the stack to his lips, he blows gentle breaths through the gaps, coaxing a reedy hum that echoes the Himalayan winds. It's not a harmonica, but in his world, it sings lullabies of forgotten valleys. Changthang means Eastern Flat Land; it is the land of nomads located in the east of Leh on the Chinese border.
November 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
... and then there is this. Low among the scrubby grass and mud on the backside of Horse Hill, watched over by jackdaw chatter and the arc of kite.
Thin drizzle and this.
As close to prayer as you can get.
Thin drizzle...
... and this.

#naturewriting #plants #poetry
Tightly packed fists of pink petals. From far away, they look whiter, with just a hint of reddish wash. The closer you get, the pinker they appear. They have a name (a common name), but, right now, they are too beautiful, too profound, to be reduced to a name.
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Right now - this

"Bring on the wonder, we got it all wrong
We pushed you down deep in our souls, so hang on
Bring on the wonder, bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long."

youtube.com/watch?v=zt9-...
Susan Enan - Bring On The Wonder -Songs From The Shed
YouTube video by songsfromtheshed
youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
Late sunshine. Boots scuffling through a fresh carpet of leaves. A busyness of ducks. The sound of a boat tying up for the night. November.

#autumnlight #autumncolours #ukcanals
A westering sun, heavy with gold, paints the eastern bank of the canals with rich honeyed ambers. A group of ducks swim and circle in the middle of the canal, their wakes shining silver. In the distance, the white painted ironwork of a footbridge crosses the water. .
November 1, 2025 at 4:27 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
Join us tonight for a very special bumper Halloween episode of Nighttime on Still Waters and find out what happened at Morton's Rise.

#podcast #halloween #ukcanals #folklore #ghosts
www.noswpod.com/mortons-rise/
Morton's Rise (A canal story for Halloween)
Welcome to Halloween on the canal. It’s a perfect night to turn down the lights, curl up in comfy chair with a warm mug, and listen to a spooky tale. Can anyone exp…
www.noswpod.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:50 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
Canal-side #plants

Hogweed

"Sticks and stones!"
Says the common hogweed,
"Look at me!
Your names for me
Cannot diminish the intricacies
Or wonders of my being.
I lift my petals
To the touch of insect wings
And coming winter.
Only you, blinded by names,
Will walk past, unseeing."

#ukcanals #nature
Delicate creamy white starfields of petals, flushed pink, against the rich greens of new growth leaves. The season may be well over along the canal-side, but the flowers still shoot and grow. The wintering insects are grateful.
October 29, 2025 at 8:27 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
What really did happen at Morton's Rise lock?
Be sure to tune into our special Halloween episode of Nighttime on Still Waters coming this Friday.

(Annual bout of 'fresher's flu' has delayed today's episode 🤧😪).

#ukcanals #folklore #Halloween
October 26, 2025 at 9:17 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
All it takes to transform
Brick, concrete, and metal
Into a place of wonder
Is just one tree.

#naturewriting #naturepoetry #trees
Morning sun breaks through a sky of bruised clouds. Light shines gold through the leaves of a tree flaming proudly among a chaos of metal railings and fences and brickwork.
October 21, 2025 at 7:10 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
Young sheep caught in mud.
Waiting while magpies gather.
Lifted by strong arms.

#haiku #poetry #sheep #countryside
Young sheep trapped by deep mud (some cows had broken down the fence). Another sheep, also trapped, managed to scramble out by the time I had reached them. This little one had given up struggling. Others in the flock keep a distant vigil - their concern is what attracted my attention. Magpies and rooks are beginning to circle, so I wait alongside to keep them away as I wait for the farmer to come. We do not now have to wait long. He soon comes. Two strong arms lifts the exhausted little soul to safety.
October 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
"I’m not Buddhist or Taoist
not a Confucianist either
I’m a brownfaced white-haired
hard up old man.
people think I just prowl
the streets peddling tea,
I’ve got the whole universe
in this tea caddy of mine."

Baisao (The Old Tea Seller)

#poetry #zen

Image: "Baisao on Footbridge”
by Ito Jakuchu
"Baisao on Footbridge” by Ito Jakuchu. Baisao turned his back on life as a Zen monk at 60 and, in poverty, wandered the streets of 18th century Kyoto. He survived by making tea from a canteen carried in a wooden box on a pole. He favoured the most beautiful spots for his temporary teashops. He invited all to join him and pay him whatever they could afford. If they couldn't afford anything, he gave the tea freely. Although physically gruelling, these seemed to be his happiest and most fulfilling years. He was well loved and respected. All his long years of religious training were manifested in this wonderful 'ministry'.
October 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
University
Quad as students talk and vape
Six ducks fast asleep

#naturepoetry #haiku #ducks #campuslife #communities
October 15, 2025 at 7:44 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
In our new episode, come with us as we listen to the quiet rhythms of the unique world of mooring points along Britain's waterways and the shared experiences that connect them all. It's the perfect, calming listen for an autumnal Sunday.
#podcast #ukcanals #boatlife
www.noswpod.com/common-thread/
A Common Thread (Sunday at the moorings)
Have you ever wondered what it was like to visit a ‘moorings’ along one of Britain’s waterways and to stand and wath and listen as this small world flows to its own…
www.noswpod.com
October 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
noswpod.bsky.social
Canal-side plants

Mallow (pink)

Amid the smouldering
Autumnal blaze
Pink mallow peeps out
And seems to say
"There are still days enough
For me to add
Spring and summer flame
To the towpath's fire of praise."

"And the bush was not consumed by the fire."

#nature #poetry #ukcanals #plants
The cerise pink blush of mallow's trumpet flowers peeping through a tangle of grasses just below bridge 65.
October 11, 2025 at 7:37 AM
noswpod.bsky.social
"Amid a thousand clouds and streams
There's an idle person somewhere
Roaming the hills during the day
Sleeping below cliffs at night
Suddenly passing springs and autumns
At peace no earthly burdens
Happy clinging to nothing
Still like a river in fall."

Cold Mountain (Han shan)

#poetry #zen
October 7, 2025 at 10:50 AM