insignificance by katharine eastman

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From the selfie-style cover to the sounds of the ambient lapping waves this all seems full of cliches - but sometimes you'd just make a fool of yourself if you deliberately struggled to avoid cliches - instead sometimes it's best just to go with the conventions.

Today on the beach at Barton on Sea was, I'm surprised and reluctant to admit, absolutely delightful. Forty-ish years since I'd last swum in the sea, and I'd forgotten how warm it could be, how nice everyone could be, how overwhelming it could all be. I shall be back many more times, I hope.

A few years ago when I was homeless I used to go to Romsey Rapids to use the showers and swim in the pool and it was the first swimming I'd done in decades and I was shocked at how bad I was at it - but I got better again with practice. So today in the ocean I didn't disgrace myself, or drown - and looking across the surface of the planet from such a low point I felt certain that I shall once again start dreaming often of the sea - something I've not done since childhood.

This album was made very quickly this evening - and is all the better for being made so quickly. The ambient beach sounds were recorded today using some 30-year-old wizzbang digital recorder (?) that I bought in a charity shop a few days ago. Things loop, there are no surprises, the sound is warm and inviting, I hope.
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(music recorded in Southampton this evening, ambient sounds recorded on Barton on Sea beach this morning, cover photo taken on Barton on Sea beach this morning)
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