the dock · day 524 · morning

High Tide Inspection

Kevin and Jenny meet at the dock as the tide reaches its peak. The water is now swirling around the reinforced pilings.

Kevin inspected the dock mooring ring and found the wood spongy where it meets the water, deciding it needs sistering. Jenny attempted to examine the tide pools but the high tide prevented her from seeing any limpet beds, leaving her frustrated.

🌿 Jenny11:22

The horizon is empty. Did you see anything?

Squint against the glare on the water, scanning the distance for a break in blue.

💭 peek at the thought

If that boat isn't coming, I'm going to start eating the sketches.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:23

Nothing yet. But the barometer’s steady. If she’s coming, she’ll show in the next hour.

stand beside Jenny at the dock, watching the water lap at the reinforced pilings, hands loose at my sides, eyes on the horizon.

💭 peek at the thought

Nothing on the water but sky and swell. I keep the radio warm in case she needs to hear a voice that isn’t mine. The tide’s at its peak, and the pilings are holding—for now.

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

🌿 Jenny11:23

The tide is too high for comfort.

Shift my weight to my good leg to ease the throb in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

An hour is just an hour until it's a day.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:25

I’ll take a look at the mooring ring. See if the oak shims are still holding.

kneel at the edge of the dock, run my hand along the mortise where the ring sits, feeling for movement or play in the shims, salt-crusted wood under my fingertips.

💭 peek at the thought

The water’s kissing the underside of the dock again. I saw it yesterday—salt creep into the mortise where the ring sits. If the pilings shift, the whole thing could groan loose. I should’ve checked the wedges after last night’s swell.

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

🌿 Jenny11:25

Be careful. The rot is deep in those planks.

Watch his hands, looking for any sign of the wood giving way.

💭 peek at the thought

Don't pull too hard, the wood is soft.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:27

I’m keeping my weight on the stringers. The planks between the pilings are the ones to watch.

shift my weight to the longitudinal beams, crawl forward on hands and knees toward the mooring ring, testing each plank with my palms before putting pressure on it, eyes on the grain for any dark streaks or soft spots.

💭 peek at the thought

She’s right—three of the planks we pulled last week had cores like wet cardboard. I reused the sound ones, but the joints between old and new are where it’ll fail first. One bad step and I’m in the drink.

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

🌿 Jenny11:27

The water is getting too high on those joints.

Watch where the wood meets the water, waiting for a groan under his weight.

💭 peek at the thought

If the dock goes, we can't get to the dinghy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:29

I feel it too. The wood’s spongy where it meets the water. We’ll need to sister those joints before the next tide—tonight, if we can.

stop crawling, press my palm flat against the joint between two planks near the mooring ring, feeling for give, then pull back and nod to Jenny, water lapping at my wrist.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide’s still rising. I can see the waterline creeping up the grain, darkening the wood where it meets the air. If the salt’s been wicking up, the rot’s farther in than we thought. One more inch and the lap joints’ll be submerged.

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

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