Taking a few moments from book biz and politics to tell you how beautiful it's been by the river these last few mornings. Clear, cool, blue sky and streaky white clouds, the water high and sparkling. Today, rolling swells; yesterday, absolute glass. A couple of cabbage white butterflies, and a bee, still here and patroling. Across the river on the hillside, one tree has already turned red, standing out in the green; sometimes it pays to be early. A pair of ducks made an elegant landing right in front of me this morning, mallards I don't think are among our locals. Either they're on their way south, or they come from far enough north they think this is south. A cormorant popped up in the water in the center of a floating group of seagulls, scattering them swirling in the air. They recoverd fast, started buzzing him in case he had a fish. He didn't, so he went right down again.