an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
The day following the storm is eerily calm. Relentless wind of the day before left patterns scoured in the sand, but otherwise no other sign. The sea was flat and calm all the way to the horizon, gently lapping at the beach, quite unlike an ocean. The sky absolutely clear.
A sea change.
Galloping horses, blowing manes
The girls headed back north in a storm. It would dump rain, then sleet, then snow all along their route, eventually diverting Emily to stay with a friend in Harrisonburg. A day later she would follow it up through New England to Maine, through several feet of freshly plowed snow.
Here at the beach the wind blew hard all day. It tore the tops off a tormented sea. It drove sand in snaking tatters down the beach, piling it up in drifts, a gritty counterpart of the snow drifts up north.
Walking the beach on Christmas Day
Two small villages of less than 500 souls, on an island isolated from the rest of the world, consisting almost entirely of a volcano in constant eruption for over 2000 years. Yup, my kind of place.
I want to go here:
O mare from wecrosstheline on Vimeo.
(note new motor, uses oars instead)
Summons – Stromboli Island (5D MkII) from LowResFilms on Vimeo.
Up before the sun
The South Wind blew itself out overnight, left everything warm and quiet in the morning. Very quiet. Just birds and crickets and the occasional splash of minnows along the water’s edge. Got up early before sunrise, made some coffe, and watched the wildlife wake up slowly. There’s some nice video at the end of this post. It will give you a really good feel for what it was like.
As you can see from the video, this was a stunning day on the water. Long steady reaches of 5+ knots in warm wind and calm water. Back and forth across the sound, neck and neck like a team of horses, ducking around islands, ending with a downwind run back to camp. Not bad at all for the end of October.
I’m not sure what the piece of music is in this video. I used to visit music chat rooms long ago, where people would post pieces of things they were working on that others could download, add another layer, and repost. I always liked this one, and it managed to survive the move from one computer to another for the last 10 years.