Today I sat on the banks of The River Severn and spent a hour or so watching an otter dip and dive above and under the water.
If you've not been to Bridgnorth I really couldn't recommend it highly enough. It's an absolutely beautiful little town that is quant, alternative, ye olde and modern. It's building covered hills lay before you stunning views of a billowing cloth like landscape of bricks and mortar. The scenery is top and the people on the whole are awesome. Also if you like an antique or a bit of vintage tat, this its the place for you.
Tin Shed Theatre Co. are currently here performing Of Mice and Men at the beautiful Theatre On The Steps. It's a place we've regularly performed since starting the company and have over the years built up a reputation and a friendship with.
This blog post is really not about theatre, or Bridgnorth, or otters for that matter. Although it's probably more about otters than anything else.
Today I decided to cut myself off from technology, emails, phone-calls, theatre thought and work. I decided to ramble aimlessly, turn left when it took my fancy, pop into a shop, start a conversation and wander. After doing this for a few hours I ate chips and decided to go and lay by the river for a bit of a sleep. Walking up and down the riverbanks looking for a quiet place to slumber I found a patch and took a seat. Staring out over the luke-brown-river pouring it's way before me, I saw a log floating by. Then the log moved, and the log looked at me, and then the log dipped under the water. Then it re-appeared with a fish in it's mouth. Then it chewed the fish, then flicked it's tail and dipped back under the surface of the water, then I realised it wasn't a log. It was a f**king otter!
I was chuffed. I've never seen an otter before, not in real life anyway. I thought about the amazing co-incidence this must be, to stop at the very spot along the river that the otter is fishing. I was in awe. I stayed and watched it for well over an hour, so I consider myself an otter expert now, and in watching it I found it spent a much greater percentage of it's time under the water than it did above it, and as I couldn't really see under the water I thought about how much more of an amazing co-incidence seeing the otter in the first place really was.
After a while of lonely observation, I noticed woman with a camera taking photos. I'd never seen an otter before, and somehow Tweeting about it didn't seem a big enough sharing of the event so I walked over to her and we started talking about the otter. People spotted me and a woman with a huge camera looking in the river and they began to stop. At first not many, but then quite a few. Pretty soon the otter had a bigger audience than we did on our opening
Eventually the crowed disperse and walked away, and once again me and the lady with the camera we're alone together with the still bobbing otter.
She told me about the people in the local area who try and spot them, how seeing one on any given day was pretty rare. She said that just for today I was an honorary otter spotter. I wanted to ask if I get a badge and a certificate, but we were too busy smiling and then we parted ways.
I said this blog wasn't about otters, and it's not. This blog is about shutting off for a while, wandering aimlessly and discovering what happens when you just let yourself get lost.
What is mainly beneath the surface can suddenly bob up to the top.
Otter love.
Mucho,
Justin
