We're being blown to Brazil! The southeaster is raging through the Peninsula as a foretaste of summer to come. Does the wind blow like this anywhere in the world, I wonder, with the ferocity and gale-force gusting that can last for days and make trees grow parallel to the ground, snap huge branches off gum trees as if they were twigs, and even overturn trucks? I think they refer to such winds as hurricanes elsewhere, but we just say summer's here.
No wonder everyone gets irritable, as hairdos are gone with the wind, tresses are tangled in more knots than you'll find in a fishing net, and loose clothing heads skywards. It's enough to blow the feathers off a flamingo!
The sea birds on the rocks are huddled beaks to the wind, their inbuilt aerodynamic apparatus, while a few terns are being tossed on the thermals, enjoying the random flight.
The new growing tips of the bougainvillea have been battered against the roof and are lying all over the lawn - fortunately this will encourage branching and renewed growth - it is said that bougainvillea thrives on a good bashing! The only positive garden outcome is that all the leaves have been blown off the brick paving, leaving it looking neat and tidy and relieving someone of sweeping duties!
The house is rocking on its stilts with the strongest gusts and we often wonder how it is still standing. I think the only thing keeping us together is the fact that all the pillars are inside, although the bracing was removed years ago to make place for inside walls (hmm....I wonder).
It's times like this when I understand why we still have the family home on the southeaster-free slopes of Clovelly!
No comments:
Post a Comment