Scintillating Wednesday

Wednesday was a low energy day.  It started out fine, but then a little after 9 this morning I started getting a blind spot in my vision, and then the flashing dots appeared.  There wasn't much of a headache, but the strobing did make it difficult to read anything.   I'm not sure what triggered it -- I hadn't had a chocolate snack yet (or that much tea), and the last one had been the previous night.  I'm wondering if my mobile phone might have been the culprit, but I really won't know.   I was mostly fine after a two hour nap, but not at my best for the rest of the day.   The only thing good about these stupid migraines is that they're mostly flashing vision problems, so I'm thankful that they don't feel like someone's driving nails into my head -- but I do wish if I were going to have scintillating spirals in my vision that some sort of mystic Hildegard von Bingen experience would come with them.  

Saturday, Mark and I went to the beach with Aoife.  We ended up at Muriel O. Ponsler Memorial State Scenic Viewpoint and beach.  I am trying to remember the last time I was at a beach, and it must have been before the COVID outbreak.  The sky was mutable, with patchy clouds blowing overhead; at one point a thick cloud bank blew southward over the coastal spurs.   The strong wind blew little tendrils of sand along the dunes and reminded me of a dream I had back in the 1980's where blowing coastal wind indicated a spirit gull's displeasure.

I brought my sand compass, and also the anchored string for making spirals.  Aoife wanted to eat the stick I used to make arcs in the sand, but I managed to create a thirty-two foot diameter pattern of arcs and concentric circles.  The anchor stayed put more securely than I'd hoped, and it would be very easy to use it to make a spiral path in the sand.  As long as the dog doesn't help too much.  Next time I'll have to bring some plywood for a straight edge. 

There were a few times when we could let Aoife off leash--she loved running back and forth in the sand--but as it got later, it seemed prudent to keep her leashed.  Also, we didn't want her harassing the sea gulls too much.  Aoife didn't want to be more than about two blocks away from us, so we had to stick together on the beach.  Mark held her leash while I drew; I held her while Mark went exploring on the low tide rocks.  

We didn't find any agates, but there was a nice basalt stone that feels good in the palm, and also a stone that looks a little like a worn Egyptian cartouche with mysterious, suggestive strokes within it.  

On the way back home, Mark stopped the car at a scenic overview and we managed to see four whales spouting.   On the way back home, Aoife slept and slept and slept.