Several Points of the Compass

The days have run together, so I was kind of startled to learn that today is Tuesday. We spent the day at the surfing beach, which was deserted until a family reunion arrived, setting up their shade tents and coolers thirty yards from us. Either it shows that Sarah and Suz know how to pick a good spot, or something about a large expanse of open beach causes people to huddle together.

The waves were my kind of wave again today -- so calm that I even went into the ocean once without Hank to hang onto. Suzanne managed to catch tiny silver fish in her bare hands, and we all fell into that hypnosis that the ocean induces. We stayed there until three, reading, talking, playing football, and watching a couple of the family reunion people surfing. They knew what they were doing, because it takes real skill to get up on waves that are breaking about two feet from the shore.

We got home, mellow and hungry, just in time for this afternoon's thunderstorm, which mostly missed us to the south. I sat on the deck outside our great room and watched the sound turn to a black-and-white expanse. I also saw something I'd never seen before -- an egg-shaped rainbow above the thunderheads.

After the storm, Chip and I paddled out to the barge to check on the crabs. (That's us, above. Chip's on the left.) Nobody was home, to our disappointment, but we were treated to fish jumping all around us. I always wonder what's making them jump, and how many teeth it has. This morning, having our usual breakfast-on-the-deck, Hank and I watched someone walk out to the barge. I wouldn't do that on a bet. Some of the barge is above water, but most of it isn't, and all of it is sharp and rusted. Hank watched the man in silence for a moment and then said, "There goes someone whose tetanus shots are up to date."

Dinner tonight was spaghetti by Chip and Hank. Chip's sauce, which contained about a cup of the precious 14 Hands merlot, was fabulous. Hank made sugar cookies dusted with turbinado sugar. We are getting spoiled.

The interesting thing about the sunset tonight may not show up well in this photo. The sound and the sky were exactly the same color, so if you look at the right side of the picture, it's impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. It reminds me of one of the Mary Poppins stories, where Michael and Jane walk up into the sky because they can't tell where it starts.