An inquisitive old fart with a camera
This is the ocean. I know, the locals consider a river, despite the fact that the other “side” of it is over 4,000 km away, in Antarctica.
So there’s 4,000+ km of open water that direction, and 6,500 km of open water to Africa.
And those are the only waves?
Dog walk sky today.
Yes, someone left a stuffed chair and a mattress in a field. And there’s more.
My wife found it amusing when I walked into the kitchen and took a picture of the sink. But hey, here it is for your visual delight. I know, I know: you’re going to say “my kindergartner could have done that!”
View out the front door a few minutes ago.
I found this at the bottom of my bag after going to the feria. Ah, Uruguayan handwriting.
Our normal dog walk cancelled, I took Mocha on the beach all the way into town. There I was reminded of this strange fenced-off footbridge, part of its deck missing.
From the road you can see it through the trees, ending across the road from the iconic (no longer hotel) El Planeta, built in 1939 in six months, offering central heating and hot water throughout. De luxe for 1939 Uruguay!
At the far end of the footbridge there’s a pile of branches, and it’s again fenced off.
You can see how close it is to the road (and you can see that, in 2015 per Google Street View, you could freely access the bridge, which never occurred to me). So why would someone choose the footbridge instead of just using the road?
Which gave me an idea.
What if the road was added later? The red line represents the footbridge. From above, the amphitheater looks a lot like a dam. And there’s apparently (I have never noticed it) a huge drain, and signs of drainage onto the beach (arrows).
[Update: I did go back and explore the tunnel]
Later—more time later than I’d like to admit—I found a diagram of a proposed harbor that was never built.
And there I spotted a break in the Rambla (beachfront road). Notice how there is no Rambla above the arrow.
And here—ta da!—is an aerial photo from 1950 confirming it. Mystery solved!
Construction continues on both sides of us, and both strange. Workers have just finished the molds for huge concrete beams atop the 42m² addition. I finally got curious and asked about the plans.
The large opening in the foreground will have a sliding glass door (facing a bush and a wall). The two distant walls are to be glass. Since this is looking roughly northwest in the southern hemisphere, and the backyard is open, this structure might be concisely described as a solar oven. I expect there may be an overhanging roof.
But at least I get it. I also get that the neighbors on the other side are making some sort of grand entrance.
Walls that might be planters, two large columns (or something), and indented area (to the right). All very curious. But I’m not going to ask just yet. Too much fun trying to imagine where this ambitious project might go next.
I have lived in ten houses in the last 35 years, four rented and six owned. Today was the first time in 67 years on this planet that I have had to change a refrigerator light bulb. I had never even considered the idea before. I thought, Isn’t that strange? until I realized that, at 11-½ years, this is the longest I’ve lived in one house continuously since age 15. And in the last 35 years, of course, with an average of 3.5 years, by far.
Ah, that engineering thing: when you build a basketball (big thing now in Uruguay) court without taking into account the coastal wind load.