A Short Survey and a Dashiki

I was feeling a bit of cabin fever yesterday morning, so I headed back to Eastbourne. This time I took a bus rather than walking the whole way. One of my readers asked why I would take a bus here rather than a taxi, and there are two reasons: one, it's obviously cheaper, and two, buses are a cultural experience. When you're on the bus, you're seeing parts of town that you might not otherwise see and you're getting a sense of the people who live and work there. I always feel like I learn a lot about places I visit when I take public transportation.

So, anyway, the No. 8 bus into Eastbourne basically starts its route right outside our front door. It let me off near the train station about an hour later.

I had no real agenda in town -- just a vague notion that I might visit some thrift shops, wander around and take some pictures. Which is what I did.

Near the Eastbourne pier I saw a gaggle of school kids, and three of them approached me with a clipboard. They asked if I'd take a survey, and I said sure. They then proceeded to ask me some very specific questions about the Eastbourne waterfront, like did I think the coastal barriers were adequate and why we might need better ones. I answered as best I could, but honestly, I have not given a lick of thought to Eastbourne's defenses against coastal erosion. It seemed like a funny thing to ask people on the street.

I did visit some thrift shops and found a groovy blue dashiki, which I bought (£7) and put on right away over my t-shirt (mostly for ease of carrying). I had a dashiki years ago which I used to wear and I think I gave it away as we were preparing to move to England. So now I have a replacement! I feel like it gives me a kind of Roy Ayers vibe.

I caught the bus back around noon, because I wanted to eat here -- we have food we need to consume before we go home tomorrow. I bought a couple of scones from a local bakery and brought them back as a special treat for Dave. I got off the bus about a half mile short of the house and walked the rest of the way on the beach for some more exercise.

Olga seems fine after her dizzy spell or seizure or whatever it was on Tuesday. Yesterday morning she was lying on the couch when she saw a fox walk past our deck, out on the shingle. She ran outside but by the time she got to the garden wall the fox was long gone.

I took a video in which you can see the fox in the distance, just to the right of the flagpole, looking back at us before it slinks into someone else's garden -- and then Olga on red alert at the wall. I never thought of foxes as beach animals, but they certainly are here.