The Pier’s Still Standing

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Forces of Nature.”

Living as I do, just off the Prom in Blackpool, I see the weather change sometimes as often as every hour.  More than any other element we suffer from the high winds gusting in from the Irish sea, bringing with them clouds of sand that sting the eyes, score the walls and work their way insidiously into our attic and under our windowsills.

Last Thursday, I woke to rain pounding at the windows, which eased off as the morning drew to a close.   The sun burst through as I finished my lunch, and by the time I left a meeting as early evening approached, the sky was a stunning mix of blue and yellow.  I took a few photos as I waited for the tram, and uploaded them the following day.

Examining this picture in the light of the photo challenge I thought about how the pier had been ravaged by the elements.  Wind, sand and water had joined forces to rip off cladding, graze the paintwork and rust the structure’s sturdy legs. Below it, the sand had been shaped by another mighty force, the sea.  Rivulets curved gracefully across the beach, forming islands and pools where the waves had crashed and pulled and crashed again, until finally admitting defeat and retreating with reluctance back from whence they came.

Tomorrow would be another day.