Wrinkled between earth and sky

Depositing a brother at Mass, I meander over to the lookout for a chat with a local. Invariably about whales. And the pros and cons of country vs city living. The bush vs the big smoke. Only dog-walkers are out this early on a Sunday.


Staggering onto the dry sand, I bee-line for the hard-compact, sudsy surface, and ease northerly. On my right, the Pacific Ocean. Where there be whales. Breeching, and frollicking. Heading south. On my left, a gnawed coastline. Crumbling. Succumbing to the ravishes of time.

I make for the entrance to Cathie Creek. Dim in the distance. I drift, trapped by dangerous beauty.

Look at the score-board!

He wiped the table with us in the first game - as he usually does in Scrabble. He had managed to acquire our box from when we played on the farm in the late '50s. What a rotter he is!

In the second game, he played 'lazed' which I followed with 'gauge' turning it into 'glazed. Then I added 's' to 'Jew' to take it over the Triple Word Score adding 42 to my tally. With one tile left, I was 8 behind, but added 't' to the juncture of 'a' and 'rap' making 'rapt' and 'at'. We were both on 170, but he had to subtract one for the tile he was left holding.

Victory by a country mile!

Early morning worship

The Pacific Ocean, Lake Cathie (Cattai), north coast of New South Wales. [F6.3, 1/1600. ISO=125, 105mm]