On the beach ...

Remembering the Nevil Shute novel of that name as the title of this post came into my head - I wonder if I have it anywhere? I can picture it, in a hardback Heinemann school edition, and I read it when I was still in Primary School, though I actually preferred No Highway at the time ... I've read so much in my life, and I began so early. But I think there's also a Narniaesque feel to the photo, which I took because the weather and the tide have been plastering the West Bay beach all over the promenade and this lamp-post really looks as if it's sitting on the beach.

We walked along here at dusk, having both been overcome with the horror of an entire afternoon spent indoors; the rain went off after we'd been out some ten minutes and the sky even cleared a bit. We were struck by how vulnerable coastal towns are; to the left of this photo are low-lying gardens, one of which was in a blip last weekend, and houses, and the sea this afternoon was so high even an hour or so after high tide and we had to time our dash past to avoid the waves still breaking over the concrete.

I did venture out briefly in the morning, but only on book-selling business - I have to settle on a price for my book, and needed some input from a seller. I'll need to be careful that I don't just put a copy on my shelf and then stick the rest in the loft ...

Not serious. But now I'm tired and hungry and in the right frame of mind for dinner and post-prandial telly. Maybe I'll finish watching The New Pope ...