23rd July from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth

Despite the lumpy grey clouds coming and going there has still been no rain. The wind gusts and dies away. The sea is as lumpy as the sky. By late morning a little weever fish has snuggled down into the sand at the tide’s edge. Until a galumphing great foot splashes down on it. In surprised defence reaction it shoots the spines upright on its back. One of them penetrates the foot of the careless bather and injects a healthy does of poison into the soft tissue. For a moment or two the galumpher thinks he has trodden on the sharp edge of a shell and wincing, carries on. But in a couple of minutes the poison does its work and the bather realises what has happened. The pain from a weever fish sting is intense and unrelenting. It is unlike any other painthat you might have felt. It is far worse than a wasp sting. The bather now sprints up the sand . He knows that he has a few seconds left before the pain becomes excrutiatingly crippling. As luck would have it, there is a beach hut. “Boiling water. Please” He blurts The beach hut owner knows instantly what the request means, puts the kettle on and finds a bowl. The only remedy for the pain of a weever fish sting is to immerse the affected area in hot water. The hotter the better. And leave it there, topping the water up as often as the temperature declines. Within half an hour, the poison begins to break down and the victim can hobble home. What becomes of the other victim, the poor weever fish, we can only conjecture. Later on the clifftop, a grayling butterfly, soft grey brown in colour and with a myriad of eyespots lingers long enough to make up for the drama of the morning. Graylings mostly live by the sea so balance is restored. Gulls circle and glide on the strengthening wind. Pigeons coo. There is still no rain. #Bournemouth #westcliffgreen #july #summer #weeverfish #grayling butterfly.

And from 2021

The air is thick and heavy. The sun has a dull steely aspect. The afternoon heat is tempered by a sometimes sharp breeze. A thick grey mist obscures the horizon while the curling surf curls makes a continuous rushing sound. In the distance a dull bass buzz of jet-skis.