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| Beach Buoy woke just before 6 a.m. His work alarm goes off at 5-50a.m. It was Saturday; a day off. His body alarm clock had kicked once again. Overhead he could hear restless Seagulls calling to one another in the darkness as if for reassurance. The sky was still black The stars were clearly visible. The Gulls must have been eager for food, some making their way inland to work the nearby farm fields. They would return at dusk for the safety of the sea. Beach Buoy nodded off. 7-15a.m. Beach Buoy was up. The long narrow window at the side of the house gave a clue to the light status over on the beach; a narrow strip of yellow and turquoise resting below a blanket of dark blue and purple. See above. Beach Buoy made a coffee. He plucked a four finger Kit Kat from the fridge and sat down. He opened the packet and broke off the four fingers and laid them out individually onto a small plate, alongside two ibuprofen and two paracetamol... well there were four broken fingers already today. The little dog could sense that it wasn't a work day; he had that routine sorted. He stood on his back legs and padded Beach Buoy with a front paw. "C'mon." 7-45a.m; they left the house. Beach Buoy glanced east to see that the sky was orange over the sea. They drove to the car park. The random puddles in the uneven tarmac looked like pools of orange as they reflected the sky. |
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| The sky was changing constantly as Beach Buoy headed for the water's edge. |
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| He reached the sea as the church clock struck 8 a.m. The tide was going out, leaving behind it, a strip of flat un-walked virgin sand. Beach Buoy headed south. Every now and then a large wave would roll in trying to catch out the unwary beach walker. So much so that Beach Buoy checked what time high-tide was. It was at 7-11a.m.; almost an hour earlier. A lady jogger passed between the sea and Beach Buoy, she too, was heading south. She ran a short distance beyond Beach Buoy and then started to walk. A man approached from the dunes and put his small white scottie dog on its lead. The lady walker became a jogger once more. |
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| Beach Buoy looked north to see that the sky was being painted pink as far as Hartlepool's Headland. Stubborn Dog was being extra stubborn today, wanting to be everywhere Beach Buoy didn't particularly want to go. |
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| The overnight tide had made a grab for the dunes and left a step down or step up depending on your direction. |
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| Back to the south, the cloud edges were highlighted with pale orange. Beach Buoy was surprised to see a ship entering the River Tees as another was leaving. |
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| The ships passed without incident and the out-going one headed off beyond the dramatic breaking waves. |
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| Beach Buoy decided to head for North Gare Beach. He cut up through the dunes as the tide was well in and it was a much easier route than clambering over the grey rocks with Stubborn Dog in tow. The two cans in picture above were beach-cleaned and put into Beach Buoy's bag with the other items that he had collected so far today. He climbed up the steeper dunes to access North Gare Beach. In the distance he could hear a small dog; it's bark sounded like a squeaking dog toy. |
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| Squeaky Dog and its owners traded places with Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog, swapping beaches as they passed one another at a distance. |
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| Beach Buoy walked to the river edge. The large Turbines out in the Bay turned like clockwork behind South Gare Pier. The scene was turning lemon and eventually fading to grey |
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| He climbed back up onto North Gare Pier and looked at the waves breaking into Hartlepool Bay. |
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| They headed back through the dunes. A high visibility dressed jogger went by trying to pick his way through the sand and grey rock combination. He was running right on the edge of each. "Morning!' said Beach Buoy. "Hiya!." the answer came back from the concentrating athlete. It seemed clear that he was trying to multi-task. A Crow balanced on the grey rocks as the sea crashed behind it as it wobbled back and forth in the breeze, not wanting to move. |
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| It was a mild morning. there was a breeze from the west that was whipping the tops off the breaking waves. Eventually they were back on the beach. There was around twenty or so people on the beach to the North, most of them in couples, all of them equidistant; each group having their own space. Three seagulls come from behind the dunes like rockets; carried as they were by the strong breeze. They headed out a short distance out to sea and the three circled before landing beyond the breaking surf. Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog made their way back to the van. A dog called Billy went by, sniffing the air as he passed south. Another lady jogger went by heading north with her bouncing dog for company. Beach Buoy has become a bit of an expert on running styles of the various joggers that jog by as he walks the beach. This lady jogger's particular style was that an olympic walking race competitor who was just about to be disqualified for not having both feet in contact with the sand at the same time. Beach Buoy left the beach and went up the ramp that leads to and from the beach. Yet another lady jogger! Unlike the earlier lone male jogger she had no problem multi-tasking as she jogged along whilst have a telephone call through her earpiece and managing not to be out of breath! Beach Buoy put his beach clean into a BIG BELLY BIN. It was about half a dozen cans, some blue sponge balls, a dogs weather beaten and sea tumbled sponge ball and a disposable lighter.They arrived back at the van it was around 10-15 a.m. Beach Buoy sat a while and looked out to sea and promenade watching. Two chaps went by, both had walking sticks. They had completely different walking stick styles. The shorter of the two kept his stick inline with his right leg as he walked , whereas the other would raise his stick high into the air as he walked as if he was pointing to something in the distance before discussing it. He started the van and headed for a shop to get something to have with a coffee that wasn't a Kit Kat. BEACH BUOY. |
