A Test on the Water

I marched down the lane from the house and took the gravel ramp down to the Chesterfield Canal towpath. Resting in the grass was a curled strip of dry birch bark—ideal timber for testing waterway conditions. I salvaged a slender pine needle and pinned a crisp yellow elm leaf upright into the bark's hollow to serve as an impromptu sail. Kneeling squarely at the edge of a mossy stone mooring, I nudged my craft out onto the calm surface. It floated with remarkable balance, catching the gentle current and sailing true along the stone bank without tipping an inch.