Squall visit

We got tied up today in day-to-day errand running, and really did not get to do anything anyone would find interesting. Toward the end of the day we did manage to make a quick trip out to the construction site. While we were there, squalls were blowing through. It's pretty cool to be on the hillside watching them coming, though. And you can see them coming a long ways off:



I was watching how the light was changing as the squall blew through. When the clouds were thicker and obscuring the blue sky behind them, the ocean color reflected the clouds and looked pretty ominous. But when some of the rain dumped out of the clouds, enough sunlight and blue shone through to change the water color back...it changes the whole tone of the photo, I think:



We were watching what looked like an entire ocean changing from gray to turquoise in sweeping bands every few minutes. The sea mirrors the sky and the clouds, of course, but it was pretty fascinating to watch. I think we are going to get some great photos from this little hill top. I am looking forward to one of the real slam dunk electrical storms we have here. One of those lightning storms that makes the dog embrace religion.

When the squall blew over us we had to duck into the house. This was the first time we have been inside during a driving rain storm. I don't know if you have ever been under a tin roof when it rains...but it has a sound all its own. It's one of the reasons we decided on the galvalume roofing, and today in this squall it sounded great. I think I could sleep just fine with that noise. It's also apparent that this house will have some sounds around it most of the time, but not the sounds of the "city". Where we have been living there is man made noise almost 24 hours a day. It wears on you. This house is immersed in natural sounds. The wind has a tone to it, which changes in pitch and amplitude, but so softly that it's not overwhelming. It's just there in the background. You hear it if you are quiet.

We can always hear the waves against the rocky shoreline. And that changes with the wind speed and direction. And the rain on the tin roof took me back to memories of my redneck childhood when I would stay with my grandparents in a dog-run cabin in the woods of East Texas. Of course there you have the occasional sound of gunfire and every now and then a whiskey still blows up with a bang....(just kidding).

This afternoon we had all three at once, the waves set a rhythm, the wind played a melody, and the rain was a soft percussion solo. I liked it. A whole lot.

We were looking around the house to see what progress had been made since yesterday. Some of the changes are subtle, and too boring to go into here. One thing we are not sure about are the baseboards. We had decided to go with tile baseboards to match the sandstone colored floors...but now I am not so sure I would not rather have just plane wooden, white baseboards. They presently look like this:



Those swipe marks on the floor tiles are just where the mason has been wiping grout in between them. It left dust when it dried. That will all be washed off. The color of the floor tiles is the identical to the baseboard tiles. What do you guys think? Can I get an opinion? What is this going to look like when the walls are painted white?

Oh, we are still struggling with a name for the house. We have heard several we like. A lot of houses here, like in the UK, have names. I think it might be even more important here, where there are no street addresses. Sometimes when we are trying to give a delivery guy directions, it's frustrating. If the house has a name, people learn it, and can read it on a sign, and it becomes a little bit of a landmark. So, anyhow, we want a name for the house. We thought for a while of TailWind...but have moved on from that. H. suggested "The Other Side" because its on the other side of the island from all the activity. We thought of "The Far Side", for the same reasons, but that's the syndicated name of a Gary Larson cartoon. Lately, we have been playing with the idea of "The Flip Side", or just shortened to "Flipside". It has a number of meanings. If anyone has any ideas on that, we would appreciate hearing them.

By the time we left, the squalls had moved on for the moment, although we are expecting more through the night. It's sure been frustrating to go two whole weeks without taking the boat out, or going fishing. This has got to stop.

So, here's the obligatory house photo with the arch..which I always seem to take.



Even a little light coming through from the sunset being assembled far to the right. I think of sitting here, watching the sea and listening to the natural sounds of the island without the noise of people.
It's the kind of place that makes one think about finally writing that novel.