Now it's a Year Here

He brought me back a huge bottle of Absolut Citron and six bars of Toblerone, so we cracked open the chocolate and cheersed a few good glasses of vodka.

It's been six weeks since he was here and he's been in a place full of story. The desert, wow! The desert and San Francisco. On the trail of the Beats and the hippies and now the contemporary alternative, free-thinking types. He went to the festival with some friends who were building a project over there. The idea was to build a huge sculpture of a Hummer 4x4, painted with bright psychedelic swirls. On the last night, the Bummer (as it was named) was burnt, along with most of the rest of the festival. The pictures are on Flickr and there's some footage on YouTube.

Yeah, so he was in a place full of naked people and lunatic dancers dressed as chickens and astronauts. Sand everywhere. Sun everywhere. Orgiastic, apocalyptic lust for life everywhere. Fire, music, full moon, Mad Max sculptures, fire, naked people.

But he missed Brentford! He said that half way through he'd had enough of the constant otherworld. He found himself pining for the humble confines of Lot's Ait at full tide. I can't figure out where he's coming from, but there it is. The guy was homesick and not for his homeland Argentina.

We talked about plans for this year and whether this winter will be as hard as last year. We both want to finish Flamenco and sell her, possibly to use the money to buy another boat. The winter should be easier now. We know what to expect and have learned a lot about what kind of things we should be doing to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. The boat's warm, at the moment, with the new wall, floor and insulation. We still have the log burner so we should be cosy. And when we've got more cash, we're investing in some batteries so we can have lighting and a little shower.

It's all exciting. We've gone full circle now. Survived for a year on The Island and, along with Flamenco, we've come a long way. Let's just hope the testosterone fights are fleeting and few!