Days

Dawn found Kevin on the porch with the generator dipstick, the barometer needle drifting below 1016. Jenny sat at the table, ankle propped on a cushion, sea beet poultice steaming …

Dawn found Jenny on the seaward garden wall, ankle swollen, watching heavy clouds. Kevin inspected the drainage trench near the dock. "The trench will hold for another day, Kevin. …

Dawn broke under a heavy overcast. Jenny sat on the stone wall wrapping her swollen ankle, watching the sky. Kevin stood nearby, checking the drainage trench for debris. He reached…

Dawn broke over an overcast garden, the air heavy with 24°C wet-season humidity. Low tide exposed the rocky flats and the base of the dock. The water tank sat perilously full at 39…

Dawn sat grey and heavy on Sorrel Island. Jenny perched on the garden wall stones, ankle propped on a driftwood crate, watching the horizon. Kevin worked the drainage trench, check…

Dawn found Kevin standing over the over-watered tomato rows where a coconut crab had shredded the mulch and displaced three heirloom seedlings. Jenny knelt by the garden wall, her …

Dawn found the spring head pressing against the north slope intercept trench, water forcing through clay seams thirty centimeters below the surface. The trade wind held steady, air…

Kevin knelt in the mud at the spring, probing the water table with the auger. Jenny sat on a fallen spruce, ankle elevated, watching water trickle through the new trench. Kevin ret…

Dawn brought warm rain thickening the mud on the north ridge slope. Kevin and Jenny stood above the transect where a fissure had deepened overnight. Groundwater seepage had turned …

Dawn found Kevin at the generator shed wiping diesel from his fingers after stripping the fuel filter. The barometer on the porch rail read 1001 hPa, needle trembling downward as t…

Dawn found Kevin kneeling in the garden trench, clearing silt as the tide climbed the pilings. Jenny sat on a flat stone, wrapping gauze around her swollen ankle. "You're working t…

Dawn found Kevin wrestling a garden stake into saturated soil while Jenny held the shade cloth and watched the barometer fall. "Stakes won't bite in this muck," Kevin said. "Need d…

Dawn broke under a thickening cloud layer. Jenny sat on the porch with her ankle elevated on a blanket, watching the sky grey over. Kevin checked the tension on the generator storm…

Dawn found Jenny on the dock bench, ankle elevated, watching the tide climb the pilings faster than forecast. The barometer read 997 hPa and falling. Kevin tested the Yanmar on the…

Rain fell steadily on the roof at dawn as Kevin mixed mortar for the dock corner. The moisture kept the batch from setting. "Mix is too wet. Rain keeps hitting the trough," he said…

Dawn broke overcast and heavy. The barometer showed a slight rise, but the air clung damp and warm. Kevin worked the north ridge drainage channel, clearing stones and setting grade…

Dawn broke overcast and heavy. Jenny sat on the porch steps checking her ankle brace while Kevin stood by the railing, barometer in hand. "Tide's out far enough. Mortar should set …

Dawn broke warm and wet over Sorrel Island. Rain tapped the dock overhang where Kevin and Jenny stood, the tide receding from the north pilings. Jenny sat on a dry crate, wrapping …

Dawn brought motionless heat and a grey sky over the north ridge. Kevin leveled the second course of the seaward garden wall while Jenny adjusted her ankle brace on a nearby stone.…

Dawn found Kevin on the porch tightening shutter bolts while the barometer slid. Jenny sat on the top step, ankle wrapped in clean gauze, watching clouds thicken over the garden. T…