Three Men in a Boat - Filming on the Grand Canal, Dublin

Walk it off.  That's what they say if you're upset, or if you've eaten too much.  Walk it off.  It's the solution for something fleeting.  A cure-all for the ephemeral grumps.  I'm a firm believer in the walk.  If you've got a problem, and it can be walked off, then it's not as important as you thought it was.

While testing this theory earlier on today, I was satisfied by the soft transition of my autumn glooms.  I left the house with a rain-cloud on my shoulder, and padded the canal run with a listless gait.  Despite the sun, despite the peace, I was melancholy.  I had gotten myself into the loneliness spiral.  This was all dashed apart, of course, when I spotted a barge stuck under a bridge.

Three Men in A Boat, I guess, has come to Ireland at last.  The show, originally aired in 2006, featured Dara O'Briain (pronounced breeee-un for those who aren't quite sure), Griff Rhys Jones, Rory McGrath and a dog called Loli.  They sailed from Kingston to Oxford in a skiff, matching Jerome's Victorian novel of the same name.  They broadcast a couple of sequels, and now it looks like there's a new one in the making.

How would I know?  I was stomping down the path and I passed a man in a brown suit, muttering to himself like a Thespian, one hand on his chin, the other pocketed, rocking back and forth on his heels.  Griff Rhys Jones.  On the return leg, I noticed the barge had become unstuck, there were cameras, many Londoners on walkie talkies and Dara O'Briain was standing on deck with a slim black hound leashed with a blue collar.  At that moment, the sunlight was showing off, dappling the canal through faerie brush, so it must have made for a grand shoot.  Not wanting to bother anyone, I continued on my way.

By the time I got back I'd felt much better.  Ahhhh, I breathed, and sat down with a cup of coffee.  Off it had been walked.


DIARIT: 7/10