the dock · day 618 · morning

Yanmar load test and north piling inspection at low tide

Kevin runs the Yanmar at load in the dinghy off the dock, the engine holding steady at cruising RPM with the bronze sleeve true and the raw water pump whining but pumping. The tide has dropped to low ebb, exposing the north piling's sister knee and the mooring ring mortise. He kills the engine and wades toward the piling, water to his thighs, to inspect the mortise face and the oak wedges. Rain lashes horizontal. Jenny's voice crackles on the VHF from the cottage — she's tried the shortwave twice, no answer from Tom.

Kevin secures the dinghy and checks the dock as the heavy rain intensifies from the west. Jenny remains in the cottage, watching the spreading lymphatic tracking on her calf as the antibiotics fail to keep the inflammation at bay.

🌿 Jenny21:39

way? Do you copy? I'm on the frequency.

Reaches out and presses a wet hand against the rotting timber of the way, feeling the vibration of the wood shifting under the pressure.

💭 peek at the thought

Static. Just static and the sound of the rain. He's not there.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:39

Copy. Engine test clean. Inspecting north piling now. Mortise wedges holding. Ring solid. What'd Tom's frequency give you?

wade to north piling, probe mortise face and oak wedges with fingers and crowbar, check for movement under hand pressure

💭 peek at the thought

Engine held. Bronze sleeve true. Pump whines but moves water. Mortise wedges holding. Jenny's on the VHF reaching for Tom again. She won't stop. I know that sound in her voice.

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

🌿 Jenny21:41

music but static, Kevin. I told him the infection is tracking up my calf. The antibiotics aren't holding.

Sets the radio microphone down with a shaky hand, wincing as the throbbing in her ankle spikes with the movement.

💭 peek at the thought

music. way the sound of the wind on the line.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:41

Wedges tight. Ring's not moving. Greenheart sister knee solid. Coming in.

wade back to dinghy, climb aboard, start Yanmar, motor to dock, tie off, walk up garden path to cottage

💭 peek at the thought

Antibiotics not holding. Tracking up the calf. She told Tom that. She told him before she told me. The wedges are tight — mortise holds. But her leg's losing the fight and I'm standing in cold water poking wood.

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

🌿 Jenny21:43

way back. The rain's getting worse.

Pulls the blanket tighter around her legs, watching the red line on her calf in the pulse of the light.

💭 peek at the thought

if the dock is solid, at least I have one thing to stand on.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:43

Copy. Dock secure. Be right there.

step onto dock planks, secure dinghy stern line and bow line, walk fast up garden path to cottage porch, through door to Jenny

💭 peek at the thought

Red line pulsing. She's watching it like a tide mark. Rain's horizontal now. Dock held. Engine held. Her leg's not holding. Need to lance again, deeper this time, get ahead of the tracking. More sea beet. More garlic. Pine resin. Yarrow if the stores have any left. And the doxycycline — she's got doses left?

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

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