The liquidators finished up early and bid us adieu, at least for a little while. Their great exodus of stuff has begun. We took advantage of our early dismissal and headed over to Carmel for lunch. Afterwards, we walked around Carmel. Anne sold some old jewelry, then we headed down to the beach. It was very windy. After some dithering, we decided to walk the beach anyway. Along the way, we encountered a husband-and-wife combo. The man was instructing the woman on how to take his picture, while he stood in front of some Monterey Cypresses.

Husband: You need to frame the photo. Hurry up. These people are going to walk into the field-of-view.
Me “sotto voce” to a young couple, who was standing next to me: He sounds like some frustrated movie director.
Wife: He’s no director or even a very good model. Anyway, all I really wanted was a picture of the trees.

After this little drama had played out, we did walk down to the beach. I decided that we should walk with the wind, instead of letting the sand blow in our faces. After getting blown down the beach, we walked up from it for our return. Later that night, home again, high atop the hill, the wind really howled, rattling all the screen doors and playing a music of sorts on the bathroom standpipes like someone blowing over an empty soda bottle.