the dock · day 323 · dawn

The Pressure Before the Storm

Kevin and Jenny stand on the dock as the humid air presses heavy against the pilings. Kevin checks the tension on the north piling shim during the receding tide while Jenny prepares the pot for the collected limpets.

Kevin and Jenny inspect the dock as the tide begins to rise. Kevin identifies a loose splinter on the north piling and finds the wood beneath is soft and decaying, while Jenny returns to the cottage to begin cleaning the collected limpets for their meal.

🔧 Kevin05:49

Shim's tight at the toe. Want eyes on the mortise before the water covers it again.

Crouch at the north piling, scrape marine growth from the shim face with the nail puller, sight along the copper plate and oak wedge for movement or fresh rot.

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's dropping. Good. Need to see the shim at low water — check if the kerf's holding or if the rot's chewed deeper since the last surge. Shim held last time, but that was neaps. This is a spring cycle, different pressure.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny05:51

Check the south side too, the wood looks soft near the waterline.

Jenny taps the glass of the barometer, notes 1028 hPa, and pulls out her notebook to sketch the salt glands on a sea beet leaf she dried yesterday.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping too fast; if that boat doesn't show tomorrow, we're stuck with a gale and no dry wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:52

Aye. South side next.

Walk the dock to the south piling, crouch at the waterline, probe the timber with the nail puller tip, checking for soft spots and measuring any movement at the shim.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. South piling takes the prevailing swell. Rot moves faster on that face. Barometer dropping — 1028 and falling. Not fast, but steady. Weather's coming.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny05:53

Watch out for that splinter, the wood looks like it's honeyed.

Jenny kneels on the edge of the dock, keeping her weight off her ankle, and watches the tide line creep back up the pilings.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:53

Splinter's loose. I'll nip it off before it breaks free and cuts deeper.

Reach with the nail puller, grip the splinter at the base, and twist it cleanly out of the piling, then feel the wood beneath for give or crumble.

💭 peek at the thought

Honeyed wood — early stage rot, cellulose gone, lignin holding just enough to look solid. Splinters like glass. Don't want a sliver in the thumb; it'll fester in this damp.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny05:55

It's soft. You need to check the shim again tomorrow morning.

Jenny wipes a smudge of grit from her palm, watches the rising water, and opens her notebook to sketch the salt structure of the sea beet salt glands.

💭 peek at the thought

The air is getting heavy enough to swallow, and the barometer is lying to me.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:56

First ebb. I'll be here.

Wipe the nail puller clean on a rag, tuck it into the belt loop, and walk back toward the cottage with Jenny, favoring the sound planks.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. South piling's soft at the waterline — rot's tracking up behind the shim face. Tomorrow's low tide is first light. Need to be here before the water rises, drive a new wedge if the mortise has opened. Barometer's still falling. Weather'll make the surge worse.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny05:57

I'll start the limpets. I'm starving.

Jenny follows him to the way, the weight of the seed tin pressing against her hip, and watches the grey sky thicken over the island.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, we're going to be out of salt and hope.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:57

Fire needs feeding. I'll get wood while you set the pot.

Turn toward the woodshed, grab the axe from the block, and split two armfuls of dry spruce from the rack, stacking them beside the stove door.

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving slow, favoring the ankle. Seed tin's heavy — she's been carrying it since dawn. Limpets need a good boil to tenderize. Fire's low; need to split kindling before the rain hits.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny05:59

Don't use too much, we need it for tomorrow.

Jenny enters the cottage, fills the pot with water, and sets it on the stove, beginning to scrub the grit off the limpets she collected.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the wood while the dock is literally rotting under us.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.