The Weave and the Wave of It

"The little man could only stare. He hadn’t dreamed of the BIGNESS of the sea. He hadn’t dreamed of the blueness of it. He hadn’t thought it would roll like kettledrums, and swish itself on to the beach. He opened his mouth and the drift and the dream of it, the weave and the wave of it, the fume and foam of it never left him again. At his feet the sea stroked the sand with soft little paws. Farther out, the great, graceful breakers moved like kings into court, trailing the peacock-patterned sea behind them.”

If you've never read Margaret Mahy's The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate, you really should. This is a quote from it, and though the sea today was rather less stunning than in the book, I do still love to be beside the sea...

Especially if it means meeting my son - waiting for his flight in Faro now; this photo was just as we entered the Algarve from Spain at Vila Real de Santo Antonio. Plus, glad to report, feeling loads better and actually eaten today.

Have added an extra of someone else at the sea, for little_miss, and for Julia, who loves cats.