The calm after the storm

A couple of photos taken after a late afternoon storm passed through a few days ago and the setting sun lit up the clouds.
The first is a panoramic and both enlarge when clicked.

Yamba from the air - and stormy weather.

Here's an aerial view of Yamba.............

That's Whiting Beach in the right foreground, Turner's Beach at the left.
Behind Whiting is the Yamba harbour and the village proper.

You can make out the lighthouse on the grassy headland, the reservoir and, in the background, Main Beach, Convent Beach and Pippi Beach, which runs down to Angourie.

A lovely photo, taken by I know not whom.

Last week we had a very stormy day, with strong winds and high seas.
Here are a few shots taken from the lighthouse looking down at the breakwater.

This was the same day that a yacht off the coast near Evans Head (up the coast a little way from Yamba) sent out a mayday after hitting a submerged object and foundering. They were rescued by a freighter and everyone was okay.

Hemiaspis Signata

In other words, the "Marsh Snake".

I came across this little bloke this morning, on the footpath which runs through the glade of trees in the resort.

He/she was about 20 cm long and didn't even move when I gently picked it up.....with a thin stick!
I popped it back down on the path, took a couple of photos and then when I was back home I used them to identify the snake.

First snake I've seen in the "wild" for decades; the last one was an "Eastern Brown" snake in Canberra about 30 years ago - I nearly stepped on it!

The New Glasses

The new glasses

I had two pairs of glasses up until last Monday; one pair for driving, which were fitted with clip-on Polaroid lenses, and another pair for reading and computer work.
The latter pair had accumulated so many scratches over the six years since I had them prescribed that it was like trying to read a book through raindrops so I made an appointment to have an eye test and get new glasses.

Test results were good: macular excellent, no sign of cataracts, very good field of vision and just a leaning towards the first signs of glaucoma.

The optometrist suggested that I go for new multi-focal, or "progressive" glasses, which would cover far to near without the need for two pairs.
I followed his suggestion and four days ago picked up these new glasses - which cost the equivalent of the national debt of a small African nation. Thank heavens for small mercies in that my health fund covered part of the cost - less than half but at least it's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick. Pun intended.

If I said that I was finding the process of becoming used to wearing them slow and frustrating that would be an understatement. I sometimes feel that my neck muscles are getting more work than they have ever had before as I am constantly moving my head up, down and from side-to-side.

I'll persevere but boy, it's a trial, that's for sure.