I put my hand on the top of rail of the new aluminium railings above the half moon beach (about 300 metre long) and feel gentle and continuous vibrations. I realize that they must come from the breaking waves, communicated via the sand and the sea-wall into which the railings are set. It occurs to me that the railings might serve as some kind of musical instrument which reacts to the waves as an aeolian harp reacts to the wind.
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We watch as a gust of wind sweeps a beer mat off a neighbouring table and rolls it upright and supported only by random currents of air for longer than we think possible. Finally the living wheel becomes a beer mat again, flat and lifeless on a manhole cover.
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Every year there are different people exercising on the sea front. This year is notable for a tall girl who, every morning, uses the the new railings as an exercise bar. Standing on one leg and hanging onto the rail with one hand, she hold her other hand at head height and with her free leg kick up to reach it. This feat performed, keeping both legs straight and her feet slightly apart, she bends repeatedly and reached forward to touch the ground with the palms of her hands.
4 comments:
Sorry to miss your birthday, I hope it was a fine one.
I always enjoy NTT 'on location'.
I enjoyed this atmospheric post espcially the description of the bar as an exercise bar, picking up the vibrations of the waves, shape and sound, tactile and auditory, and visual.
Greetings, Lucy. You seem to have had another fruitful holiday. I look forward to seeing more photographs of the Marvel on Box Elder.
Thanks, Lucas. For the sake of accuracy the vibrating railings are made of stainless steel and not of aluminium. They are apparently based on the succesful design of railings which front the sea atthe Atlantic resort of San Sebastian.
Oh my! this post made me feel such a longing to see the ocean that my being vibrated with closed eyed desire, feeling the railing, smelling the air, hearing the waves. I haven't felt such an intense lust to be with something or someone so strongly in years,since I became to old for lovers and longings. Alas, I am landlocked by a 10 hour drive and nary the gas funds to deliver me..perhaps I should start putting my coins in the cracked tea kettle and consider it a mission of serious wish fulfillment.
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