the dock · day 713 · midday

Preparation for the Supply Boat

The tide continues to cover the lower rings of the dock. The clouds darken further, suggesting the first rain of the season is near.

Kevin and Jenny move the heavy supply crate and fuel drums from the dock to the cottage before the supply boat arrives. Jenny struggles with the pain in her swollen ankle as she navigates the algae-slicked dock planks.

🌿 Jenny04:30

The tide is coming in too fast. We need to move the gear under the eaves before it breaks.

I wrap the bandage tighter around my ankle and wince as I shift my weight to walk toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

If it rains before the boat arrives, the north ridge soil will just turn to mush before I can even start the remediation.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:32

Moving. You take the light stuff — radio gear, notebooks, seeds. I'll hump the diesel cans and the crate.

walk to the dock and start loading the heavy gear — diesel cans, the wooden crate, tool boxes — onto the wheelbarrow to ferry up to the cottage eaves

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The tide's pushing hard and that gear on the dock won't survive a soaking. My back's still stiff from hauling diesel yesterday but the alternative is replacing waterlogged stores.

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

🌿 Jenny04:33

Careful with the radio, Kevin! The wiring is already shot and I don't need it completely crushed.

I gather the tin of seeds and my notebook, clutching them to my chest while moving carefully across the uneven planks to avoid the throbbing in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always so efficient with the heavy lifting, but if he drops that crate, half of my grandmother's seeds are lost to the salt.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:34

Radio's in the dry bag, Jen. Wired tight. Won't crush.

load the two diesel drums onto the wheelbarrow, brace the wooden crate against them, and start pushing up the ramp toward the cottage

💭 peek at the thought

She's nursing that ankle bad. The red line's climbing still, even with the antibiotics. Should've insisted on the medevac forms yesterday but she'd have fought me. Radio's tougher than she thinks — survived forty minutes in Biscay, it'll survive a wheelbarrow ride.

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

🌿 Jenny04:35

Just make sure you don't tip the crate on the ramp; the wood is slick enough as it is.

I follow a few paces behind, keeping my weight on my good leg to minimize the sharp spike of pain in my swollen ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks a dry bag is enough, but the humidity on this island finds a way into everything, eventually.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:36

Crate's lashed. Won't tip.

push the wheelbarrow up the slick ramp slowly, boots finding purchase on the algae-slick boards, easing the load over the threshold and under the cottage eaves

💭 peek at the thought

She's white-knuckling that cane. The infection's not backing down like it should. Two days of doxy and metronidazole and the heat's still in it. If the boat's delayed again...

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

🌿 Jenny04:37

Put them by the workbench. I need to check the radio before the rain really comes down.

I set the seed tin and notebook down on the table, leaning heavily against the wood to take the weight off my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

At least we're inside for now, but the air is getting heavy enough to bruise.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:38

Radio's fine. You're not. Sit. Leg up. Now.

unstrap the wheelbarrow, set the diesel drums and crate by the workbench, then cross to the table and gently but firmly guide her toward the chair by the stove

💭 peek at the thought

She's fading fast. The fever's burning through her and she's running on stubborn. Radio can wait — she needs the leg up, fluids, the last of the metronidazole. But she'll fight if I say it outright.

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.