Dolphin Address 8 2004
August 8, 2004
In Holland you don't give it a thought. Everything is naturally level except the dikes and a few little hills. The outward journey equals its return. Even the wind is usually adverse.
This is all very different here. Walking on a road, even if it goes up and down, is rather luxurious compared with going into nature. This is scattered with stones and rocks.
As you can regard a hindrance also as a challenge I like to walk along the sea. Some boulders are unstable, others are very slippery, but by far most are reliable as stepping stone and lay within reach. Walking slowly and looking around you is not recommendable. With a steady pace you create a sort of gyroscopic effect, which gives you more stability. You bring your body weight into a kind of trajectory that absorbs a certain degree of deviation.
Because the layers of rock do not only step down towards the ocean, but also slide sideways and moreover are sprinkled with chunks of stone that measure up to a bike shed a lot of climbing into the third dimension is required. Because sometimes the rocks have razor sharp edges, I wear working gloves.
In this world you need a good sense of balance and a refined feeling for level, or the bus will be parked on a slope and the next day you wake up against the side or with a splitting headache. Fortunately the sea is level.
Balance you can get out of. Normally this can be corrected by moving the arms or the trunk, but sometimes this goes deeper. In a heavy wave your eyes can fix on the moving kelp, making it look as if the seabed is shifting to and fro. Recently I have become aware of another 'trompe-d'oeil'. From Fanore one can take the coast road to Lisdoonvarna, but there is also a small road over the Slieve Elva.
Particularly when the weather is good we travel this, because of the view. Strangely enough it hardly shows on the outward journey, but on the way back nearly all the houses are leaning. And rather a lot, too. I can imagine my Dutch equilibrium is disturbed, but then nothing should show on the photographs. Pass your own judgment.
A less interesting, but frequent disturbance of equilibrium is caused by Guinness.
Jan Ploeg, Meadow Fanore, August 8th 2004
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