11th August

The bay is a huge silver mirror, barely rippled at the edges but reflecting the palest of pale blue evening skies. A mauve haze describes the entire horizon which fades up into pink and then a pale green. It is well past sunset and there is no dramatic sky to the west because there are no clouds to create the colours there. The beach is still busy and there are still walkers, amblers and sounterers of all sorts crowding the paths. There is distant laughter and gentle conversations. The only things missing on this warm summer evening are bats. The drought has been hard on these little creatures. Not only is there an absence of places to drink but the lack of moisture means there are fewer insects. Bats are thirsty and hungry, Another sign of some desperation are the piles of pine cone scales on the paths and the stripped cores rather like corn on the cob discards. These are where squirrels are eating the cones. Something the squirrels do not usually do until winter. And now the lights are beginning to prickle along the promenade and the haze smudges out the horizon so that the sea appears to go on for ever. Until a big straw coloured moon sails above and lays its cloth of gold pathway over the water.

From 11th August 2021

The dark green of the Scots Pine stands out strongly against the intense blue of the sky. There are a few white summer clouds overhead but a long line picks out the contours of the Isle of Wight. The sea sparkles and glitters in the fresh afternoon breeze. The beach is peppered with families but not over crowded.An old man with a bushy white beard has rested his walking stick across his stomach and sits back on a bench, his face turned to the sun. A small plane drones overhead. The clifftop bracken is full and tall. Under the trees a small black and white dog races through the chiaroscuro of the network of deep shadows and bright patches of sunlight.