the keeper's cottage · day 874 · midday

Midday heat and supplies

Kevin and Jenny meet on the porch with the final crates finally stowed inside. The air is still, and the tide is beginning to turn.

The humidity hangs heavy over the cottage as the tide begins its slow turn back toward the shore. Kevin and Jenny wait on the porch, watching the horizon for the first smoke of the Mara while the salt air remains still.

🔧 Kevin08:29

Radio's clear on Tom's frequency for about forty seconds each dawn. I keyed it yesterday." "The coax run's still waiting for proper terminations. Humidity's been brutal on the solder joints." "Jenny, about the garden..." "I've been thinking. Maybe we start small - just the sea beet seedlings in the protected beds." "Tin E's still sealed. Whatever's inside..." "I need to radio the supply boat's ETA again. They're supposed to be here today." "But first - this ankle needs proper attention. The poultice' worked, but...

brew coffee for both of us in the cast iron skillet check water test strip - 2 used, 1 remaining point toward the half-weedy plot behind the cottage retrieve the heirloom seed tins from the wood stove shelf set the rusted heirloom seed tin

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's climbing but the swell's still holding. Need to get the Yanmar's heat exchanger sorted before the rain hits again.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny08:30

The garden can wait, Kevin. The boat is late, and I can't even walk to the ridge today.

rub throbbing ankle with a wince, look at the horizon for a speck of smoke, sketch the jagged line of the tide in the margin.

💭 peek at the thought

He's talking about seedlings while the dock is literally rotting and my ankle feels like it's being squeezed by pliers.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:30

Boat's late. Tide's turning." "Ankle first. Garden after.

pour coffee into two tin mugs hand one to Jenny sit on the porch step facing the water watch the horizon for the Mara's smoke tap the radio log on the shelf note the barometer reading: 997 hPa, steady listen for the shortwave's static hiss

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The boat's the priority. The garden's been waiting eleven months — it'll wait another day. Her ankle's the real measure of things.

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

🌿 Jenny08:31

Thanks.

take the mug, wrap fingers around the warm metal, lean back against the whitewashed stone.

💭 peek at the thought

997 and steady. It's too quiet. The air feels like it's holding its breath.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:32

Mara usually hits the cut on the flood. Two hours from first smoke to the dock." "Skipper knows the swell. He'll come if he can.

sip coffee, eyes on the horizon feel the mug's warmth through the tin notice the tide line creeping up the beach hear the shortwave's low static from the kitchen shelf wait

💭 peek at the thought

She's tired. The infection took more out of her than she'll say. The boat being late means more than missed supplies — it means another week of rationing decisions, another week of her limping the trench line alone while I'm at the dock.

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

🌿 Jenny08:33

I hope he has the salt-grade antibiotics this time.

shift weight away from the ankle, hiss through teeth, and watch the grey air shimmer over the north ridge.

💭 peek at the thought

Two hours. If the boat doesn't show, I'm out of gauze and the infection is winning.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:34

"Manifest said marine-grade doxy and metronidazole. Captain acknowledged on 2182." "If they're not aboard..." "I know the cache coordinates. Two courses left in the oilcloth." "Your call when we see the crate.

set mug down on the porch rail stand, joints stiff from the crate work walk to the kitchen shelf pull the medevac forms from the dry bag check the antibiotic blister packs — two doxy, four metronidazole remaining return to the porch, forms

💭 peek at the thought

Salt-grade antibiotics. The trust's supply chain is for shit. Last run they sent broad-spectrum instead of the marine formulation — useless against the halophilic strains that thrive in this heat. If the Mara doesn't have them, we're down to the buried cache and whatever I can culture from the sea beet glands.

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

🌿 Jenny08:35

I'll keep the radio on watch.

sit back on the bench, rub the throbbing ankle, and scan the horizon for the first sliver of smoke.

💭 peek at the thought

Marine-grade. It needs to be. I can't afford another week of this throbbing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:36

I'll be at the dock. Prep the skids." "Radio's on 2182. Key it twice if anything changes.

lean the medevac forms against the radio on the kitchen shelf walk down the porch steps cross the cracked path to the dock inspect the greenheart skids positioned at the landward end test the come-along anchor bolt on the north piling check

💭 peek at the thought

She'll sit there until the boat appears or the light fails. That's who she is. The ankle's bad — the poultice helped the surface but the deep tissue's still hot. She won't admit it. I should check the heat exchanger on the Yanmar while there's daylight, but I'm not leaving the porch until the Mara shows.

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

🌿 Jenny08:37

Be careful with those skids, the wood is soft.

lean against the salt- way post and watch the tide come in.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the mechanics while the island is literally rotting under our feet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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