Down The Drain

A day after Thames Water got a £20m fine for polluting Old Father Thames with raw sewage, two of their operatives turned up here to sort a drain blockage out in the road. I was summoned outside to assist as they and MrQ couldn't find the manhole (I've been told I mustn't call them that) on their electronic map.

Thankfully, once I had orienteered for them, they soon sorted the blockage, which is more than I can say for my broadband. I'm backblipping as I noticed that I have a connection - sure it's only a blip. I'll catch up with comments when I have a stable signal.

Today's poem is from The Ancient Mariner Part IV, lines 272 - 287 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/rime-ancient-mariner-text-1834

I wonder what the "water snakes" were? "And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes." Sounds a bit like phosphorescence to me. It's wonderful to see it dripping off one's oars when rowing at night. I didn't know that Coleridge and Wordsworth conceived this poem jointly. Wordsworth left it to Coleridge, realising that he was more in command of the subject matter.