Round Midnight

I promised pictures earlier and I am a man of my word. This first one was taken at high tide through the windows at the top of the Tower.  At the bottom of the frame you can see a hint of color in the water.  There was a mud that was sluiced around. Some of it is pasted on the kitchen windows even with the later rain we have had.  It was a color I associate with wall paper paste and guacamole and the same consistency.

This second one is a composite of the Harbor at around 10:30 this morning. You will want to click on it to enlarge it.  The small jetty was awash 90 minutes before the tide.  In 1991 the capstone to the jetty was washed away and I watched all morning thinking it might happen again.

This is a shot similar to the view from the web cam moved from the Harbor side to the north. You can see the waves climbing the beach and the debris making its way toward one of my doomed gardens.  Remember you can click on these photographs for an even bigger image.

Back up top for a look at pure fury.  

You are seeing the reflection of the window glass along 

with what we could describe as a flick of Sandy's finger.  

Jessica Bartlett of the Globe contacted me late this afternoon and asked for my impressions.  She did a terrific job capturing my mood and the frustration that these storms bring out.  The link to her story is here.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/scituate/2012/10/scituate_to_begin_to_evacuate.html

What I shared with her is what I led with when I began writing yesterday.  Too many come out and put themselves and their kids in danger.  It is flat out bizarre behavior from this vantage point.  

This young lady takes her picture with her phone - a huge smile too - the wind was blowing 40 miles an hour.

This guy decided to skip stones across the parking lot.  He and his buddies were standing at the most vulnerable spot on Cedar Point.  Again one is photographing the other.

Too close up by the Tower - our man from the middle of the skipping stones photo gets soaked to the skin and knocked on his tail.  His friends picked him up and then they walked knee deep through the parking lot.

I watched this happen in horror.  The entire family had followed this woman up on the wall when they might have just turned around and headed back up Rebecca Road.  I have wondered about the conversation all day. Is he asking her for a fishing rod? Is he asking how deep or how cold the water is?  Are they planning Thanksgiving dinner and he is asking if they can invite his mother? Mashed or roast potatoes?

I felt so bad for these kids because it was surely not their idea to take a the poor man's tour of Venice today.

A final shot shows the big jetty awash at the height of the tide.

As I finish this I see flashlights on the walkway and I am imagining trying to have a broken ankle set tonight.  The wind has shifted to the southeast and the tides are currently running 2 plus feet over expected.  That would put us on track for a twelve foot tide at midnight.  This afternoon was just under 13 feet.  There will be raking and shoveling to do but we'll have met the vandal and took her best.