a journal of...

A journal among friends...
art, words, home, people and places

Thursday, June 10, 2021

On the shore


I've been here only a few days, but the other afternoon, as if to welcome me, one of those afternoon storms on an otherwise pretty shore day...deep blue skies, breeze from the south cooling the boardwalk and making the curtains fly...rose up from the west to change the direction of not only the weathervane but the tenor of one's spirits.


One by one, people began to appear over the dune paths, beach chairs and bags on their shoulders, heading for cover.  By the time the darkening clouds reached a formidable height, the beach was empty and the streets evacuated.


I put on my jacket and went out to meet it.  I was the only one within sight...which is quite long hereabouts; you can see clear to the next town south and to the edge of town to the north.  At first I thought I would walk along the water; it was low tide, though the ocean had wedged itself in behind a bar that sloped sharply, so I had to climb carefully down to the waves.  The distant sky over my shoulder grew darker, but the clouds formed such elaborate shapes...narrative, almost...that I went back to the house for my camera and began to document the pre-storm in earnest.


From the sand, I walked back up over the dunes, this year bristly with new grass planted in artificially arranged rows, rather like an ugly stubbled beard.  I wondered, not for the first time, at how uninviting the township had made the approaches to the shore.  The paths over it are stony for bare feet and uncomfortable for sandals, though, once you reach the crest, the long expanse of sand and ocean that splays before you erases dismay. The dunes are high, so it's a climb to that point; at the house our accustomed view of the shore and water, except from the second floor bedrooms, is cut off.  It's a disappointment not to be able any more to watch the mesmerizing tides from the porch or dining room, or to have it at your side as you walk the boardwalk, but I cannot complain too much...they are our first line of defense against hurricane season.


I resumed my walk along the water for a while, then headed up again to the boardwalk on a path less stony this time. Thunder, which at first was low and infrequent, began to raise its voice.  Once I thought I caught out of the corner of my eye a flash of lightning to the north.

There was no rain yet, but plenty of atmospheric movement.  




From the boardwalk I turned, like a compass, trying to read the story in each chapter of the sky.  I was still the only one around...even the birds had deserted the place.  In this intimacy with the shore I thought how lucky I was, how grateful to be here, to witness this afternoon.


The skies seemed to agree, and gave me every ounce of their drama to enjoy. As I walked back to the house, the first drops fell, and from inside the porch I thanked them as they splattered down.


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By the way, readers, I've received a notice that this blogspot is changing the way notification emails are sent out to subscribers...or rather I gather they will no longer e bsent out in whatever format is current.  Such a pain. 

I haven't figured out what I am supposed to do about that, yet (change is not my tech forte), but I do need at least to make a list of people who want to receive notice that I have posted so I can forward posts to you myself.  Can you send me a private email to my email, if you would like to be notified of posts?  I know who some of you are, but not all.  Of course, you can always check rachels-house.blogspot.com on your search engine every few weeks.  Another pain.  Sorry.

This is not a scam, I promise...at least from my end.  I'll need to figure subscription out before mid-July when blogger has changed whatever it's changing.  Ugh.