Down off the mountain after four nights and up and posting in the daytime. Will wonders ever cease? My story for this week’s FridayFictioneers was inspired by this photo prompt and by a lovely blogger friend named Sandra who spends part of her time traveling through France aboard her barge, ( <— can you imagine? check out this picture.) ( Sandra, is this true ? —>) Desormais. Do have a look at her latest post in her blog Castelsarrasin. It’s easy to find yourself operating a lock, searching for a mooring next to a tiny French town, bicycling for groceries and negotiating for time on the internet with Orange kiosk operators.
A wonderful life, or, perhaps more accurately, a summer of idyllic interludes separated by the trials and tribulations of canal life. Sandra only knows.
Here and Now
From a secluded glen hugging a gentle curve of the canal, canes cascaded to the water in wild, shadow-dappled chaos. We’d moored here at my insistence, two miles east of Château de Chambord, because to pass by without lingering was simply unthinkable. I made raspberry margaritas and we drank them in the shade of the wheelhouse. My husband groused about what a pain it was to have had to set two anchors while I thought about love and the maroon bottle of Chambord Liqueur we’d shared on our wedding night.
Amid the thorns, succulent fruit waited to be picked.
ironwoodwind 
