It’s a warm evening by the sea. A bit breezy but the day has just got nicer and nicer. I’m in bed but might get up again. I’m just keeping Lou company and she’s in need of an early bed. She’s had lots of late nights in a row, and she’s about to go work a festival for four days so needs to have a full tank.
It’s still light outside, as we move to the solstice. These long bright evenings. The wind from the sea is carrying some murderous bass from Concorde 2. Or maybe someone has a van full of speakers on the beach. They get up to all sorts here in Brighton on bank holiday. You’d think after the state everyone was in last night at the Spiegeltent that nobody would have woken up yet. Not so. The party goes on and on in Brighton.
We lay on the beach for hours, in a little sheltered patch near Shoreham. We drove out that way to buy some fish from the fresh fish place, and ended up lounging around with the monkfish in the glove compartment. Very few people on the beach, and yes we had a sheltered bit, but there were plenty of breakwaters. Why the Russian family decided to sit a few feet from us is hard to fathom, unless they just decided the whole beach was theirs and we were an obstacle. They might not have been Russian, that’s just a guess based on behaviour and vague language recognition. We still managed to relax mostly. It was just irksome. One of them seemed to have developed the ability to keep talking even on the inbreath, like didgeridoo players.
I tuned them out and watched the wind surfers, admiring their stamina, coveting their skill and kit. All you need is time, a van, a place near enough to the sea to warm up after, a decent wet suit, a load of expensive kit, good balance, core strength, someone to teach you, patience, cold resistance, youth, maybe a community of like minded friends. I’d do it if I had an army of masseurs waiting with a boiling onsen on a beach surrounded by barbeque bonfires for when my team of instructors brought me back in. I’ll leave that for the emperor version of me right now though. One day maybe I’ll live near some sea. Then I’ll work out how to light the fires.
Monkfish curry for dinner. I’m glad I’m with Lou this bank holiday as the other options likely involve getting drunk. This weekend has already felt restorative and calming and there’s a day left. Back to the grind Tuesday. Still really trying to find some consistent work to fill the gap until late August. It’s great having a job to look forward to, even if I can’t blog about it yet. I just want to make sure the time between ain’t idle.
AlBarclay 