1. Despite having to pack up, clean up and “enjoy” an … amusing altercation with the woman next door, we still manage to get up and out in good time without being rushed.
2. The first seals we see are young pups, born last autumn and still wearing their pale fuzzy coats. Another colony is more active, slithering down into the sea and coming over to investigate. We sit just a few metres away from a big group: they sniff the air and looks at us questioningly – us strange creatures that pull up in strange contraptions every few hours and stare at them for a few minutes, then go away. I wonder what they make of it all.
2b. A cormorant walks around less than gracefully, making me laugh out loud. Similarly, a puffin takes off from the water, stumpy little legs hanging back from its round body.
2c. To imagine what life would have been like living in the light houses, or to be a fisherman, out at sea when the waves were/are considerably less forgiving than on a still, spring day.
2d. We all wobbly on our legs when we return to solid ground. Lily surprises me by not vomiting on the pier. John too.
2e. We’ve had better fish and chips (they’re not bad, just we’ve had better) but the donuts and coffee from the van on the harbour are surprisingly good.
2f. We drive along to the sandy part of the beach. It’s not far over the sand dunes and I think Lily knows what’s waiting for her. Again, she helicopter-tails down to the water and plonks herself in. She much prefers being in the sea rather than on it.
2g. We find a tennis ball at the shore line and though she’s never been a big fan of doing it (and certainly not in her older years), Lily fetches it for throw after throw. One fetch leaves her drips wet from head to tail and we laugh at how much she looks like a slick seal. Later, we find an oversized tennis ball at the high tide mark: it’s a little too balloon-like for Lily but it amuses us.
3. The row of solid chimneys and the graceful wind turbines in the foreground.
3b. The field’s furrows flicker from dark to light as we approach.
3c. Dancing to the Detroit Cobras in the tunnel under the airport runway.
4. Everything has grown in the short time we’ve been away and our world is greener again.
4b. I didn’t see Kaufman before we left on Friday so I’m glad that he’s waiting for us when we get home. It takes a little while for the girls to appear but when they do, they seem glad we’re back too.
4c. Lily is, at first, very excited to be at home and she checks everywhere (and every creature) for new smells. But soon, the day – the drive, the sailing, the sea splashing – catches up to her: she makes herself a nest with some cushions and a blanket, and curls up to go to sleep.
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