by A fierce thunderstorm–well, “fierce” to my Southern California eyes and ears–swept up from the Gulf into Galveston and kept me awake. So I decided to continue reading “Pestilence” a very well-written, fantasy novel based on the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. Then my Kindle froze. The page wouldn’t turn. It wouldn’t even turn off. Was this an electrical short caused by the lightning? Something caused by the oppressive humidity? Or was it a harbinger of the coming apocalypse?
I decided that nothing I could do would change the frozen Kindle or the (maybe) coming end of times, so I fell asleep and woke to an overcast sky. And when I plugged in the now “dead” Kindle, it began to charge and come back to life. No apocalypse today.
Because Galveston was only a brief stopover on my road back West, I took a very short drive along Seawall Drive to see how this beach compared to California beaches. (In a previous post on my way East I posted photos about Old Galveston on the other side of the island.)
Red flag and where are the lifeguards?
The first thing I noticed was the absence of lifeguard towers. Finally, I saw one, but it was a very long way from where most of the people–children–were splashing in the water. Unlike the colorful and sturdy ones in So. California, this one looked sort of slapped together. And the red flag danger warning simply seemed to be being ignored.
And the waves, which were not very big, were topped by a sort of a brown foam as they slid into the beach. The foam, no doubt, was caused by mud stirred up by the previous night’s storm. Or maybe the beaches here are slushy brown all the time. I don’t know. This beach is very different from California beaches.
A painterly look at the fun zone
Then further along I saw a pier with rides outlined against the gray sky as if it was a beachside painting from the 19th Century. Jutting out into the water were a Ferris wheel, roller coasters, and other amusement park rides. When I got closer I discovered it was called the Pleasure Pier — even that name has a late 19th Century ring to it. Almost all the rides except for the merry-go-rounds looked scary. No potential pleasure for me; I’m definitely not a thrill ride lover.
A line of about 10 art benches are strung along the seawall sidewalk. Here are two of them. One is for identifying whales and another to help you i.d. turtles. Both are sea creatures that do not appear frequently in the Galveston area, but the benches are attractive seating.
Then back to my hotel confident that Southern California beaches are better. Except for one thing: the sight of flocks of pelicans soaring on the winds purely for the pleasure of it. Nothing like that along Southern California beaches.
Visit my author’s site to see books I have published
A note about “Pestilence”. I read a lot of dystopian and apocalyptic literature and thought that “Pestilence” was simply a new book by a Canadian author, Laura Thalassa, with whom I was unfamiliar. It turns out she is a very famous writer and Pestilence is the first of four books about the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse arriving in the 21st Century. I definitely recommend it.
