A year ago we were moored almost in exactly the same spot we have just arrived at, Pangbourne Meadow, on the river Thames. It is beautiful, even on a cloudy, drizzly day.

What a difference a year makes. Our plan in September 2023 was to travel to Lechlade, arrive on the K&A at Newbury in early November, where we would winter until April 2024. We would travel to Bristol and back before the busy summer season, hoping to avoid too many hire boats and lack of moorings. Other plans were afoot?

Unbeknownst to us our boat had a rusty diesel tank, dirty fuel and the engine repeatedly cut out on the Thames, which was a little unsettling. We limped onto the K&A in mid October, just as the red boards started to appear. Fortunately we made it to Newbury by the end of October, little thinking it would be late May before the River Kennet came off those boards! We still had time to hotfoot it to Bristol before the summer holidays, except a lorry went into the canal and our journey was further delayed!

So here we are Sept 2024 back where we started but do we mind? Not a bit! The joy of this journeying is to accept the lack of control that we have over unforeseen circumstances and to live in the moment. Very much like life itself. Any belief that we are in control is misguided. None of us knows what. tomorrow holds, so it makes sense to try and make the most of the time that we have and to be prepared for the unexpected.

I sometimes reflect that we are so busy living this life, that many neglect to consider the life to come. Yet eternity is eternal and our earthly life is fleeting in comparison. We may care well for our physical and mental needs with good food, exercise and friends as therapy but it might just be worth attending to our spiritual needs too.

We are physically back in the same mooring twelve months later, but I truly feel our spiritual life is in a different place- the people we have met, the experiences we have had, have helped shape us, grow us and enrich us by opening our eyes and hearts to the good that is around.

May that be possible for all others who seek it too.