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Wednesday 28 November 2012

Good out of bad?

I had a visit from the moorings officer yesterday. She was lovely and very sympathetic. The forecast is that things are going to get very much colder over the next month and I was worried about getting in and out of my boat in the ice as the concrete edge on visitors gets extremely slippery. It is also a bit of a trek to get to the rubbish disposal or the loos. I also feel very uncomfortable being on visitors moorings now the canal is open. Although there are very few boats coming through, I still feel that I may be stopping someone else mooring just for the night because I am staying there.

As mentioned in my previous entries, I had been confident that I would be able to get back to my own mooring in a matter of a week or so after the cast was removed. I wasn’t basing that on anything except wishful thinking really. It is now two weeks since the cast was removed and I am still on two crutches and recovery is proving to be an awful lot slower than I had hoped. The moorings officer has therefore let me go on a vacant long term mooring opposite the visitors moorings. It is better for several reasons: The edge is a lot safer for me to get in and out of the boat. It is right next to my car which means I can drive to the rubbish or the showers (if I get short of water and need to shower at the public ones). I am away from the road that leads to the pub which is great as cars do race up there in the evening, their lights shining into my boat and so close that I couldn’t let Bon out for a wee without going with her. There is a patch of grass outside the boat now so she can mooch on her lead without getting run over. I also get to chat to my fellow Hunts Lock moorers as they all park their cars next to this mooring.

Apart from getting across the lock on crutches, the other problem with my return is the state of the path through the mooring. We have had so much rain this year that the earth has been washed away, exposing loads of tree roots. People are tripping over them even with two good legs! The slope leading down to our gate from the lock is also very tricky in icy conditions. The moorings officer has apparently been trying to lever some money out of CaRT to improve the Hunts Lock moorings but with no success. She got me to fill out an accident form regarding how my leg got broken, emphasising the tree roots and uneven ground. She thinks she can use the report to frighten them into action. As she said, it would be good if something positive came out of my accident that benefited everyone on the mooring.

The other good thing, as I have previously mentioned, is the effect all this has had on Bonny. That was put to the test yesterday. As the moorings officer came on board, the door and cratch cover was open for just a bit too long and Bonny, who had been watching a squirrel playing in the tree opposite the boat, took the opportunity to jump out and cross the road to get a closer view of the squirrel. This was the first time she had been outside off her lead in nearly 8 weeks. The moorings lady went to catch her which of course made Bonny run off towards the entrance to the park. I managed to stifle my panic and called her from the boat very firmly. She immediately turned back towards us, but then stopped near the boat looking for all the world like old Bonny and new Bonny were fighting it out in her head. I called her into the boat again and after a short hesitation, she jumped straight in and went to her bed, looking very pleased with herself. I was so relieved and so impressed with her. If ever she was going to take advantage of her unaccustomed freedom, this was it, especially as the squirrels were calling to her.

I have also noticed significant and positive changes in me and how I relate to others thanks to this experience, but I’ll write about that another time, when I understand it better.

1 comment:

Lynda Alsford said...

I am so pleased people are running around you and making sure you are ok. Brilliant news about Bonny coming back like too. What a reformed dog!
I hope you keep getting better.