The rain picks up intensity, and the wind begins to shift toward the west. The tide is now high against the dock pilings.
No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.
🌿 Jenny10:34
Hold the light steady, Kevin. Don't let it shake.
Wince as the blade presses into the inflamed tissue, watching the dark fluid bloom into the water.
💭 peek at the thought
The infection is moving too fast; if I don't drain this now, I won't be walking to the ridge tomorrow.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin10:34
Light's steady. Breathe through it. I've got the poultice ready — fresh sea beet, mint, pine resin scraped from the spruce offcuts. Going to pack it deeper than last time.
hold the LED headlamp beam steady on Jenny's ankle while she works, then prepare the poultice with sea beet leaves, mint sprigs, and pine resin from spruce offcuts, applying it thick over the lanced wound and wrapping with clean gauze strip
💭 peek at the thought
The infection's tracking upward despite everything. If the red line passes her knee by morning, the antibiotics we have left won't touch it. I need to get the poultice packed deeper this time — more sea beet, more mint, pine resin if the turpenes actually slow the spread like I think they do. And I need to key the radio on Tom's frequency before the storm takes the aerial down completely. Not for me. For her. So there's someone who knows where we are if the boat doesn't make the bar.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny10:35
Tight enough to hold, but don't cut off the circulation.
Lean back against the cool stone wall, closing my eyes as the throbbing heat in my calf begins to dull.
💭 peek at the thought
The resin is sticky, but it'll draw the heat. I need the swelling to go down.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin10:35
Wrap's good. Pulse strong. You need water — mug's by your knee. I'm going to check the dock lashings and the radio aerial before the wind picks up more. Back in ten.
set the warm water mug within Jenny's reach, pull on oilskin jacket, step out onto the porch toward the dock and radio mast
💭 peek at the thought
Wrap's firm. Pulse still strong in her foot. Good. The barometer's still dropping — 972 at dawn, probably lower now. Wind's backing west. The north piling held through the last surge but the shims are working loose; I can hear the collar knocking in the swell. If the dock goes, we lose the dinghy mooring and the crane point for the supply boat. Need to check the lashings before full dark. And the radio — aerial insulator's shattered but the set works. Tom's frequency at 1400. I said I'd key the mic. Didn't. Tomorrow. Or the next day. The letter's in the dry bag on the dinghy with seed tin E and the spare impeller. He'll get it if I don't.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny10:37
Be careful on the boards, they're slick.
Reach for the mug, taking a slow sip while watching the rain blur the windowpane.
💭 peek at the thought
The wind is picking up too fast. If that aerial goes down, I'm cut off for another month.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin10:37
Always am.
step carefully down the porch steps onto the wet grass, move toward the dock keeping weight on the sounder planks, check the north piling collar and oak wedges, then go to the radio mast and wrap self-amalgamating tape around the coax entry
💭 peek at the thought
Porch boards are slick too. One wrong step on the algae-slicked stone and I'm down — can't afford a turned ankle or worse with Jenny laid up and the boat days out. The dock collar's knocking rhythm tells me the shims are walking. Two oak wedges driven yesterday, but the tide's higher now and the swell's pushing different. Radio mast guy-wires are singing in the gusts; the new insulator's holding but the coax entry at the shack needs tape before water wicks down the braid. Ten minutes. Check the dock, tape the coax, eye the barometer through the window. Come back.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny10:41
Watch the moss on the edge!
Shift my weight on the pillow, wincing as the poultice presses against the inflammation.
💭 peek at the thought
He's going to catch a slip. The wood is turning to glass out there.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin10:41
Middle planks. Testing each one.
walk the center line of the dock toward the north piling, probing each plank with a boot before committing weight, reach the collar and assess the shim gap, drive a fresh oak wedge into the starboard side with the mallet, then move to the r
💭 peek at the thought
She heard the moss from inside. Good ears. The north edge of the dock's green with it — holds water like a sponge and goes to ice in winter. Right now it's just treacherous. I'll skirt the middle planks, test each step. The collar's loose — can see the gap at the starboard shim. Need another wedge driven before the ebb tide sucks the piling sideways. And the coax tape job needs doing clean; last thing we need is the radio dying when the boat finally crosses the bar. Hands are trembling some. Adrenaline fade from the lancing. Cold's not helping. Do the work. The work steadies.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny10:42
The tide's coming in fast for the dock.
Reach for the notebook, sketching the spreading redness on my calf with a shaky hand.
💭 peek at the thought
The wood is holding for now, but the salt is getting into the whole structure. I need to see the tide line again.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin10:43
South stringers next low tide. Collar's holding for now.
wrap self-amalgamating tape around the coax entry at the radio shack, inspect the ceramic insulator seal and mast guy-wire tension, glance at the barometer through the cottage window, then head back to the porch
💭 peek at the thought
Tide's pushing hard against the piling now — can feel the vibration through the planks when a swell hits. The starboard wedge bit, collar's tight for the moment. But the south pilings are moving different; the whole finger pier's twisting on its bearings. If the stringers go, the crane point's gone and the supply boat can't offload heavy gear. Need to sister the south stringers at low water tomorrow. For now, the coax. Mast's shuddering in the gusts. Tape the entry, check the insulator seal, eye the guys. Barometer through the cottage window reads lower — needle's past 970. Wind's full west now. Storm's not waiting.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b