Drama in Dorset
Today is the 29th of July. The pictures are a story about yesterday, three days after Europe’s “hottest day in history” was recorded. I’m sceptical to say much more about heatwaves and climate change if the colons haven’t said enough. Yesterday’s story is not about a heatwave though. It is about the exotic.
The weather was warm and pleasant, and the South of England could have been Sardinia, or Algarve, or Hingol, or California Sur. Maybe that’s pushing it, but anyway, here’s a little context. These images are in stark contrast to my usual travel shots, underlined by a fierce resistance to staying near, always in favour of travelling far. This is because perhaps one is predisposed to thinking far is exotic, but yesterday, near was exotic.
It started with a spontaneous walk passed a car rental, back-steps and then into the car rental shop. It was Sunday and the day was open. That’s all that was needed for a decision to rent, and drive South. Erratic weather and heatwaves have made it easier to chase the sun in England.
Cornwall was too far, and it was raining in the Cotswolds, so the navigation was set to Southhampton. The car drove passed Bournemouth, and slowed down in the area around Weymouth. As one moved further southwest, the landscape transformed. Clouds broke in more spaces. More blue. Manicured fields, busy cattle, high stalks of wheat, daffodils and then finally the sea. Blue, blue, blue. Dorset seemed like a nice place to stop. It was a little further up from Weymouth, where the cliffs were large and visible.
It was 3 pm but it felt like noon (thank you, British Summer Time). After a drink at The Watchhouse Cafe, I made way up a grassy cliff before settling in on the beach, down under the sun. On the cliff-side, with rolling fields in the back and a warm breeze, one can see France if it’s a clear day, and it was. Then one of those exotic moments of synchronicity came. You know, when you’re convinced that all of your decisions and non-decisions have led up to that moment, and you’re ready for whatever that means. I looked down and lost myself in the drama of moments on along the coastline.
