Last day out for a bit

We've had a quiet day here in Willington, though it started early, body clocks not yet having adjusted to the changed time. We got a bit of shopping in at the Co-op, and otherwise have been lurking on board, dealing with emails and the like.

One item was the latest BW Boater's Update; nothing much new, frankly, I seem to have read it all already in other places, but I was struck by this encomium about the Canal & River Trust's new logo:

In the same way, the Canal & River Trust’s magnificent swan evokes serenity, protectiveness and much more in people’s minds. From the research and the reaction we know that it resonates well with the general public.

Now, to an extent all this is true, in the sense that this is indeed the myth that surounds the mute swan. I'm very happy to see them around, but anyone who has much to do with them knows that they are great, bullying, stroppy, murderous beasts, quite capable of demanding bread with menaces and of driving away any competition.

In the spring, the males or cobs have been known to drown an entire brood of ducklings to make sure that their own offspring get first crack at the grub.

There's a moral in there somewhere, as the Red Queen keeps saying in Alice in Wonderland. When she's not shouting "Off with his head" of course.

Tomorrow, into the marina...