Tuesday Two

 I spent some of today wandering around in a Stephen King novel. We drove up to the north so that Holly could go horse riding in the hills and on the beach. We were told that she would be riding on Bath Beach, a long stretch of sand on the East coast of the island, or at least it used to be.

Two years ago, for no apparent reason, huge amounts of Sargassum seaweed washed in and have stayed there ever since. The turtles are suffocated by it, the Maui Maui don't grow to full size, and consequently the beautiful small community is practically deserted as there is nowhere on the beach to sit or even swim. This once beautiful coastal paradise has been destroyed by the very same forces that once made it so welcoming.

On top of this, for the first time since we arrived here, the rains came. A tropical storm that lasted twenty minutes and soaked us to the skin. Of course Holly was up on her high horse. She still got wet, although she says she enjoyed it. For us, the warm rain was a welcome relief, even though it flooded the beach and turned the dry dust to mud; which stuck to our shoes and the tyres of the car.

I'd like to come back to Bath Beach one day and find it clear of the seaweed that is killing it. I would like to see the bustling place it must once have been. No shut down houses, a beach bar that's open, and without even a hint of vampires hiding behind the shutters.