Rook Ravaged Skies
10/03/21 • 30 min
This has been a week of blustery winds and storms. Perfect weather for the wild choreographies of the rooks jousting on the wind. The devil has spat upon the blackberries and we (rather hurriedly) mark our first birthday – this podcast is one year old!
Journal entry:
“2nd October, Saturday
Below a thrown scatter of rooks
South-westerly gusts kick up
leaves not yet ready to drop.
Rains seeps into the cuffs of my coat
Autumn glory.”
Episode Information
In this episode I refer to:
John Mazluff and Tony Angell’s (2005) In the Company of Crows and Ravens published by Yale University Press.
Jennifer Ackerman’s (2020) The Bird Way: A new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent and eat. Penguin Press.
To hear Amada and Wayne (NB Aecern aka NB Wanabees) interview on great ‘The Silver Fox Sessions’ podcast: 5. You Know What? Anything Can Happen! Newbie Narrowboaters Wayne and Amanda
General Details
In 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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
Become 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.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: 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 Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
This has been a week of blustery winds and storms. Perfect weather for the wild choreographies of the rooks jousting on the wind. The devil has spat upon the blackberries and we (rather hurriedly) mark our first birthday – this podcast is one year old!
Journal entry:
“2nd October, Saturday
Below a thrown scatter of rooks
South-westerly gusts kick up
leaves not yet ready to drop.
Rains seeps into the cuffs of my coat
Autumn glory.”
Episode Information
In this episode I refer to:
John Mazluff and Tony Angell’s (2005) In the Company of Crows and Ravens published by Yale University Press.
Jennifer Ackerman’s (2020) The Bird Way: A new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent and eat. Penguin Press.
To hear Amada and Wayne (NB Aecern aka NB Wanabees) interview on great ‘The Silver Fox Sessions’ podcast: 5. You Know What? Anything Can Happen! Newbie Narrowboaters Wayne and Amanda
General Details
In 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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
Become 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.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: 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 Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Previous Episode
Call of Wild Geese
These are the mornings of mist that ring with the call of geese. What is it about catching sight of the flight of geese and hearing their wind-borne calls that evokes such feelings restless longing and yearning within us? And yearning for what? We listen to the words of Wendell Berry, BB, David Whyte and Mary Oliver to find ways to capture those powerful emotions.
Journal entry:
“24th September, Friday
A tangle of Victorian girders
Russet brown; a lacy filigree
of metal, rivets, and musty glass.
Anti-pigeon spikes
Repel the reality in which we live.
Willowherb smoke, rusty sidings,
Bramble fountains – barbed and irrepressible.
The sharp-edged wings of a gull,
Outstretched, cruciform, alive.
And my spirit rises with it,
Soaring into the sunlight above the grime-streaked glass.”
Episode Information
In this episode I discuss some of the ‘Little Grey Men’ books of the author BB (Denys Watkins-Pitchford). They are:
BB (1942) Little Grey Men reissued (2012) by Oxford University Press.
BB (1948) Down the Bright Stream (later published as The Little Grey Men go Down the Bright Stream) also reissued (2001) by Oxford University Press.
Wendell Berry’s poem ‘Listen!’ can be found in his (2018) volume, The Peace of Wild Things published by Penguin Books.
David Whyte’s poem ‘The Journey’ has a number of publications but can be read in his (2018) David Whyte: Essentials published by Many Rivers Press. You can watch him talk about it and recite it here: The Journey.
The two poems by Mary Oliver ‘Snow Geese’ and ‘Wild Geese’ are collected in her (200
Become 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.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: 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 Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Next Episode
Shipping Forecasts and Weather Logs
When I meet people who listen to this podcast, one of the most frequently mentioned features is the inclusion of the weather log with which I end each episode. This week I talk about what inspired it, one of which is my childhood love of the BBC’s Shipping Forecast. What makes these stark lists of climatic data ring so powerfully in our minds?
Journal entry:
“8th October, Friday
Laundry-water coloured skies
Heavy dews
Clumps of willow-herb hang like desolate sodden paper tissues.
The sock on my right foot keeps balling
Under the arch of my instep.
I lean against the brickwork of bridge 65 to readjust it.
Penny contentedly sniffs out the worlds
Hidden from me.
But my mind is filled with childhood snow scenes
And socks that never stayed up in gum boots.”
Episode Information
For lovers of the Shipping Forecast and, particularly for those outside the UK who might now have heard it, the 99% Visible Blog and podcast has a wonderfully informative online article by Roman Mars, ‘The Shipping Forecast’, that sketches out its history and characteristics, as well as featuring links to recordings of it.
You can listen and watch Laurie Macmillan read the Shipping Forecast accompanied with ‘Sailing By’ on: Radio 4 Shipping Forecast (Youtube).
Vangelis’ track ‘Albedo 0.39’ can be found on his album Albedo 0.39 (1976) released by RCA. To listen to it: Albedo 0.39 (Youtube).
In this episode I quote excerpts from:
Charlie Connelly (2019) Last Train to Hilversum published by Bloomsbury
Peter Jefferson (2011) And Now the Shipping Forecast: A tide of history around our shores. published by UIT Cambridge.
Nic Compton (2016) The Shipping Forecast: A miscellany. Publi
Become 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.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: 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 Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
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