Anticipating collapse

Piles of sand block the street to car traffic. Apparently the exceptionally heavy rain last week carved out whatever caused the rambla (waterfront road) to collapse three years ago. You can see the new crack forming halfway to the missing chunk.  When all is done, they’ll dump in a bunch of sand, pave it (maybe), and that will be that.  Until next time.

Where’d the beach go?

After a day of intense rain and flooding, a day of intense wind, driving the waves all the way into the dunes.

The waves look benign, but with howling wind and stinging sand seemed less so. Then I stepped into quicksand and sunk one foot to the ankle. I should know by know – on the upwind side of the drainage channels formed by water from the street, windblown sand becomes quicksand. A little disconcerting, especially with no other human being in sight.