Hastings At What Would Normally Be Half Term

"Tide's a long way out," said Ailz, as we drove along the front at Hastings. She was at the wheel, so only glimpsing the sea from the corner of her eye.

"No, I said, "It's right in"

"So how come I can see someone half a mile away?" she asked. "Unless they're walking on the water- which, "she added, "has been done before."

I pointed my camera out of the side window, ran out the telephoto lens- and took this picture of what she was seeing...



All the shops in Hastings that could claim to be selling food were open- including a sweet shop and an ice cream kiosk- and if the people on the beach were observing social distancing the people on the streets weren't- couldn't- because there were just too many of them. The government may be hoping to maintain the lockdown for another couple of weeks but it's fraying at the edges- and I rather think, with the Cummings affair, something snapped.

We didn't stop in town because we don't like being with crowds of people even at the best of times. Instead we kept going east until we came to the Pett Levels- where we could have a hundred foot of shingle to ourselves. We ate our picnic, watched the man and boy to our left try to assemble a wind break, the child to our right run in and out of the sea and the cormorants fly over head, bob about on the water and dive after fish.

Palm Trees In Flower

Having taken the picture of the woman on the paddleboard I continued to point the camera out of the side window of the car and noticed- something I can't think I'd ever seen before- that the palm trees along the promenade were in flower.



I showed the picture to J later and she said she thought the flowers were scruffy- but I disagree.

Is it a rare thing for palms to flower in our climate or have I simply not been looking at them at the right time of year?

For The Record

And here- as a matter of record- is the beach under the East Cliffs at Hastings- as it appeared yesterday- round about mid-day.



As I said earlier, the lockdown is fraying at the edges...