Hurricane Bill
The ocean is a moody neighbor and when I lived one street away from it, we learned to know those moods: when to be joyful with it, when to avoid the anger and the times when it was uneasy. An angry sea is not something you would want to mess with, but an uneasy sea is worrisome and lets you know of danger.
On joyful days, the sun sparkled off the gentle little bits of waves; people swam near the shore and weekend sailors went out further to fish or just putter around. Deep-hole fires were started and marshmallows gave themselves up in sacrifice.
When the sea was angry, people might still be on the beach, but it would be cool, the water would be too rough for swimming and the only vessels out there would be tugs, cargo ships and oyster trawlers. Plus one or two stupid weekend sailors.
If the sea was uneasy, it was time to check and see if you had enough food to take you through three days of being stuck out where we were, because the causeway would be cut off and the other road would be underwater. A hurricane was coming and the ocean knew it. Forget the tv weathermen; pay attention to the sea.
The whole attitude of the sea changed into long-period swells, taller as time went on and the storm became closer. The waves breaking on shore became slower but louder, more powerful. Our beach was steep, yet the waves came higher, broke further in, and started carving a new sort of beach. Another day or two and it would hit.
On joyful days, the sun sparkled off the gentle little bits of waves; people swam near the shore and weekend sailors went out further to fish or just putter around. Deep-hole fires were started and marshmallows gave themselves up in sacrifice.
When the sea was angry, people might still be on the beach, but it would be cool, the water would be too rough for swimming and the only vessels out there would be tugs, cargo ships and oyster trawlers. Plus one or two stupid weekend sailors.
If the sea was uneasy, it was time to check and see if you had enough food to take you through three days of being stuck out where we were, because the causeway would be cut off and the other road would be underwater. A hurricane was coming and the ocean knew it. Forget the tv weathermen; pay attention to the sea.
The whole attitude of the sea changed into long-period swells, taller as time went on and the storm became closer. The waves breaking on shore became slower but louder, more powerful. Our beach was steep, yet the waves came higher, broke further in, and started carving a new sort of beach. Another day or two and it would hit.
posted by Tom Carten at 6:43 PM
1 Comments:
We were there and I wanted SO much to hang out there to see Bill, but I had other bowls to stir and had to return home a few days before it arrived, much diminished I must say.
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