Nasty grey, cold, drizzly day with the kind of light that bleaches the colour from the landscape and saps the will. Made an effort to bring some discipline to the day, made it productive in small ways, then went for a walk along the river. I passed a very downbeat lock keeper peering through the rain dirty glass of his little hut by Culham Lock. He came out to the lock gates when he saw me and asked "Are you with a boat?" then sighed and shuffled back to his chilly vigil when I replied "No,I'm just a humble pedestrian." I had half planned to go as far as Sutton Courtney pools but I'd had enough by the time I reached the bridge so I made my way back again shifting my focus from the river to the other side of the towpath, dark debris strewn fields and the roofs of Culham glimpsed above the treeline. Took a slightly circuitous route home through a rapidly darkening afternoon, car headlamps glittering on puddles, not without its aesthetic appeal...but you have to work harder to appreciate it.