Kingfisher, a good omen (January 2012)

Kingfisher, a good omen for a new year.

I spent much of New Years Day lying under the boat covered in oil with rain dribbling on to my legs as I swung a big hammer to drive up more spikes. Not everybody's idea of fun perhaps, but I enjoyed it.

2011 has been a difficult year in a lot of ways. 2012 is full of promise and uncertainty. Today, as I climbed out from under the boat to drill another spike hole I caught a flash of electric blue out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, but it had gone. That must have been a kingfisher I thought.

It's years since I've seen a kingfisher on the local canals. There used to be one around Portland Basin in Ashton, but that was probably 10 years ago.

I climbed up to my drilling position and was just about to start another hole when I saw the blue again. This time I had a clear but all too brief view as the kingfisher whizzed by, just a few inches above the water, in a straight line along the canal and under the stone hump backed bridge to perch on a distant branch. Despite the winter gloom, the distant perched kingfisher stood out, a bright spark among the drabness of cold leafless brash.

I have been having an outbreak of pessimism lately, my thoughts laden with fears of what might go wrong. The kingfisher lifted me. Perhaps 2012 is going to be a good year.