I had no idea how much I would miss the sea when all this began. The cold reaching fingers of it brushing my toes. The deep and mottled turqouise of its depths, hanging like a veil over ancient volcanic rock. The peaks of it, rising grey and dirty against a low, steely horizon. Lashing waves crashing in protest against the confines of gloss-painted promenade railings. A loose grip around my ankles. A glossy suspension of reflecting sunlight.
I woke up on the morning of January 1st 2020 totally calm. I'd dreamed of tideless Mediterranean water, and in this dream I'd swum out from a cove carpeted in sand made from tiny particles of pearlescent shells into the wide, flat ocean, and I'd lay on my back and been carried. I had no idea then, and why should I, how far away the sea was.
Other Stuff
If you have been looking for ways to help support people in hospitality who have lost everything or who are struggling to get by, this article has a useful list of charities who are doing good work within the industry.
A heartfelt paen to Pliny The Elder, by Matthew who has given us so many escapist landscapes to rest in recently.
Have you ever noticed that Spain's wine and cheese is rarely seen as equal to it's European counterparts? I have, and it pisses me off. So finding this piece on Franco's push for mass production was really interesting and gave some clue as to what held Spain back, and how artisans are leading the "second golden age".
Sugar Creek Malt are clearly malt artists and this story is so evocative I can almost smell the lavender smoked malt (although that might be my burning lavender sticks.) PS. Malt is cool.
Jesus god do I want some curry bread right now.
"Honk once for “Amen,” twice for “Glory hallelujah”" -- church from the car park, captured by photographer Mark Peterson.
I've spoken to a lot of people with a lot of different accents this week, and as well as proving to me that speaking to people is usually how to get myself out of writer's block, it made me wonder why my accents shifts and changes depending on who I'm speaking to. I found no conclusive answers (and one article that flat out told me I was imagining it) but I did find this really weird article on a BBC website about how your accent influences how people feel about you, and within it is a fun photo of Cheryl Tweedie and Prince Charles. I didn't know what to do with the information it taught me, so now I'm giving it to you.
As I was just about to buy a label-maker on eBay last night, I felt like this article was directly attacking me.
I wrote about synthetic meat a few months ago. But have you heard of synthetic wine? No grapes, no gravel, no winery: a totally lab-built drink. It sounds pretty disgusting to tractor-and-straw-hat-preferrin' me, but then again it could bring down carbon emissions compared to mass-produced wine you already think is bad. A quite-interesting read, and it's not about the virus, which is also probably why I leapt on it. Oh and the techies that made it say things like "we think this is the last frontier of digitisation" which is both hilarious and awful.
I discovered Tapas magazine this week, and with it this optimistic speech from winemaker José Moro. "Wine unites us." I've heard people say that about beer in the UK. (I'm not going to pretend that I am fluent in Spanish, but I try to read it anyway. And google is right there with the translate tool after I give up on the second sentence.)
Adnams Brewery, spun in golden yarn by ATJ. Plus some beautiful pictures of Southwold. Escapism. You deserve it.
Something to do: On May 2nd Gabe Cook is hosting the world's biggest cider tasting. Should be fun!
My Stuff
This week I was invited back to the Cabin Fever podcast and had a lovely time chatting about writing and tuna with Claire Bullen, Lily Waite and gracious host Eoghan Walsh. Find the episode here. I was surprised to hear myself talking with some degree of sense about creating art during a time like this when everyone is already so self-aware, so please give it a listen if you can.
I did writing this week, so expect some published pieces in the coming weeks.
I post every day (pretty much) on my book-based instagram, so if you like books, why not give me a follow?
The Iles d'Or -- Henri-Edmund Cross