The Colour of the Sea

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:56:52 +0000

On one day during our holiday in Essaouira in Morocco, the sea did something spectacular. It turned red. A thick band, which ran right along the beach, turned uniformly brown-red overnight. The colour stopped abruptly about a couple of hundred metres out to sea. The following day the effect had disappeared.

The locals told me this was a regular effect of sediment from the nearby river. I could not get enough height for a perfect photo, but hopefully you can make out the sudden change from brown-red to blue-green in this image.

Changing subjects as fast as the sea off Essaouira, there was a lovely review of my book by an American newspaper over the weekend.

I would like to pretend that an English professor compares my writing to Thoreau’s every weekend, but the fact that I am actively considering tracking down all those English teachers, who, over the years, questioned my ability to string a sentence together and generally discouraged me and systematically tried to snuff out the joys of writing and criticised me for constructing sentences that are far too long, and then emailing them a link… would suggest that this is a rare treat.

The River

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:42:00 +0000

We spent some fun family time by the river Thames yesterday.We were in suburbia at Datchet, near Windsor. The recent heavy rains did mean that the water was fast running, but it was not a scene of fear and danger, more the scene of an enormous barbecue. Even so, I don’t think I can spend time near a river without recalling the extraordinary navigator, Harold Gatty, and the line:

‘In nine cases out of ten rivers will lead, if not home, at least to somebody else’s home.‘

The Natural Navigator» river

The Colour of the Sea

The River