Early Morning by the Sea

I grew up near to the sea and always love to be near it ,whatever its moods. 

 Covid 19 Lockdown has meant that we haven`t seen the sea, some eight miles away, for over three months. 

Health risks mean that we cannot travel around and mix with others while the Lockdown Easings come into effect. A compromise was reached. 

We got up very early and were down on the coast by 6.30am.

The light of late dawn changed the sky as we watched.

Sunlight reflected white on chalk cliffs near Swanage, across Poole Bay.  Tall white buildings, tiny and far away to the east in Bournemouth, shone with reflected light. 

The Isle of Wight and the Needles looked near enough to touch. 

Dawn cloud shadows over Hurst Spit and the Island beyond. 

Sand martins swooped into nest holes in the sand and gravel cliffs. Tall grasses made cover for other nesting birds

Small pebbles crunched beneath our feet.

That rushing sound of pebbles, washed up and down the slope by waves and undertows.

The sound of my childhood beaches to the east, on the Solent shores.

A sea swimmer made progress along the shore.

A last view of the Island.We climbed wooden steps and walked beside thrift covered cliff tops. 

Time to go home on quiet roads, before the rest of the world woke up.