I hadn't meant to go to the beach today. It was more a case of having to go to the village for some emergency supplies. It was the first day the rain stopped. It's been the sort of rain that scares you, non stop for days. Loud slashing teamed up with violent winds, testing my cabins legs on the hill side and making me worry about my blackbird.
When I came out of the forest there was even pale sun, making the clouds transparent white gold. I might go to the beach I thought.
It was only my second visit. The first was in bright sun, the most sun I have ever seen in the winter time in fact. And there was snow on the sand and a whole sea urchin shell, coffee on the rocks and a diving board.
The rain has washed the snow away, making the fjord full to bursting with clear snow sea water. It almost looked inviting as the sand gently sloped into the clear non threatening water because you could still see the bottom.
It's not a fancy beach. Or a large beach on the ocean. It's just a village beach for the locals. The sand was probably put there and there's a factory to one side, but it's just a small Norwegian one. Made of wood, so not bad as far as factories go. I could almost hear the teenagers in the summer time. The ones from the Kiwi supermarket, stripped from their bright cartoon green uniforms, diving off the diving board, flirting with the girls. There's a hut with a life ring and a shower. A bar b q area and a wooden staircase which leads over rocks to the diving board. I love how its a fjord with a mountain right on the opposite shore, but its sea water. In another part of the shore, near where the boats are, you can look right down to the bottom and see huge spiky sea urchins and orange starfish, but the sea is some miles away.
I thought about winter swimming. If only I was brave enough. Maybe if I was with a braver than me friend who would egg me on and we made a fire before and had dry clothes and a flask and maybe even some whisky for when we got out. Maybe. And maybe a female friend would be best so I wouldn't have to think about my winter legs and flinging off a wet costume in adrenalin panic, freezing cold. I haven't had a female friend in 2 months.
