the dock · day 675 · evening

The Rising Tide

The heat remains high over the island as the water continues to cover the lower beams of the dock structure.

🔧 Kevin21:35

Kevin — check the mortar consistency on the dock corner, then sit on the planking and wait for the water to drop.

💭 peek at the thought

Mortar's setting slower in this heat. Tide's still high — another hour before I can reach the low joint properly. Should've started earlier.

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

🌿 Jenny21:36

The tide isn't turning, Kevin. If it stays this high, the whole jetty is gone by morning.

Jenny opens her notebook and begins sketching the precise pattern of salt-covered wood, her pencil scratching harshly against the paper as she watches the waves lap at the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is stubbornly high today. If the water doesn't recede, the rot in those beams will accelerate faster than I can patch. Kevin is sitting there like a statue, but the salt water is finding its way into the wood. I need to check the pH of the ridge soil again; the humidity is making the sketches curl.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:37

Barometer's holding. Wind's still west. Tide'll turn.

Tap the fresh mortar with a fingertip — still soft — then lever myself up and walk the jetty back to shore, boots heavy on the planks.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Spring tide on top of this swell — if the barometer's lying and the wind shifts south, the corner goes. But the mortar needs air to cure, not salt water.

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

🌿 Jenny21:39

The barometer doesn't stop the salt from eating the wood.

Jenny stops at the edge of the grass, looking out at the north ridge, and rubs the edge of the seed tin in her pocket.

💭 peek at the thought

He always trusts the instruments more than the water. The water doesn't care about pressure readings. way tackle is throbbing with every step, and the hunger is making my vision light.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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