The Clouds Are Gathering, Rye Harbour

I was going to write about our micro trip to Rye first but after seeing the White House meeting between Trump, Vance and Zelensky it feels as if it is so much more important than anything else that happened today. 
I've heard some people say they switched off the news but I think the thing to do is actually to listen to it and hear the horrendous, disgusting and disturbing things they are saying. Zelensky is an absolute hero in my eyes - he stood up to the bullies and he made them look completely mad and delusional. Trump and Vance are totally beyond the pale and Starmer cosying up to them now looks like the action of an appeaser, hoping for a good deal (as long as we're okay the EU can go hang) and flattering him with a letter from the King - it's totally nauseating. It is horrific and that's why everybody should watch what happened in that press conference and get very angry. For them to behave they way they did towards a democratically elected leader of a European nation, who is trying his heroic best to defend his people, and for all the world look like a dictator's cheerleaders really should be a wake up call to all sane Americans. I think he may well be one of the most evil, corrupt and amoral leaders ever to hold high office.
Earlier in the day, before the seismic events unfolded, we headed to Rye Harbour and that's where I took today's image. The gathering clouds now seem a portent but at the time I just really like the rather desolate beauty of it. We couldn't get right to the shoreline as contractors were moving truckloads of shingle to another destination further along the coast.
After our walk we went to Rye itself for a spot of lunch at one of our favourite spots, The Standard Inn. The food was great and we washed it down with a nice cold pint of lager each. It now really makes me appreciate how lucky we are to live in a peaceful country not consumed in a war with a far mightier foe - long may that last.