Roots and branches

Nico opened the sluice at the moulin yesterday evening to enable a neighbour upstream to cut back trees growing out of the canal wall.   We had a glass of wine, waiting for the washing to dry in the last of the sun and listened to the water pounding through the stone vaults beneath us before heading back to the warmth at number 10.   
Detritus had built up in the tailrace by this afternoon; logs, cans, tennis balls, branches and a stop sign which will make a good table top. 
Before we shut the sluice I caught the plane tree flashing its underwear before hiding its modesty again under the water.