Amoeba and I drove around the end of the island tonight and parked the car on a cliff above the beach at Cattle Point, then we climbed down the embankment. I noticed as I was climbing down that the soil was very sandy. I slipped and slid a couple of times, grabbing at the grass on the edge of the trail. It offered no resistance. Its root were extremely shallow and it just pulled free of the dirt.
After wandering down the beach and around the point, I climbed the cliff face there and again noted the extremely sandy soil. Once atop the cliff I forgot all about it and started snapping pics of the lighthouse and scenery. Amoeba and I discussed the extreme erosion that has bared a good (or bad, if you’re the lighthouse) portion of the foundation. The soil is all sand and it just washes away too easily. (I am certain there is a Bible lesson in here somewhere.)
Later as we were driving away and I was staring off the cliffs at the beautiful vista, Amoeba said, “Driving this road always makes me nervous. We do have our auto insurance paid up, don’t we?”
That brought my eyes off the view and onto the road. There was a car coming toward us, but it was clearly in its own lane and neither it nor we were going terribly fast. “Yes, our insurance is paid. Why? What’s wrong?” I intently studied the car dashboard.
Amoeba said, “This is a nice, wide paved road and it looks stable, but as you saw for yourself, it runs along the edge of a very high sand bluff. Next stop, ocean.”
I am an optimist. I said, “This road has been here for years. There is no reason why it would shear off and fall into the sea while we’re driving it. ”
He is a pessimist. He said, “There’s no reason why it wouldn’t either.”
I just gave him a how could you stare.
He said I shouldn’t worry because with our insurance paid up, we were less of a temptation to Murphy. (He of Murphy’s Law.)
Yep, Murphy’s Law is number one to us glass half empty folks.
Lori — I tend to look at what I have.
a high school science teacher told me that the hiking trails in Hawaii were very porous. Never walk near the edge of a cliff, she said, because the soil could break off and you could fall to your death. Probably due to the fact that lava is porous?
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Not only is the lava porous, Gigi, but it’s made up largely of iron. And iron rusts – hence the “red dirt” of O`ahu. And the risk of landslides. The Ko`olau Range was once the western flank of a volcano the size of Mauna Loa. But water and rust weakened the mountain, and one fine day, everything makai of the Pali slid into the sea. The rubble of this landslide is there to this day, for any submarine to see.
Hahaha ! apparently you are in the same boat as me. Mr. G. is a terrible pessimist and I am a terrible optimist. With him it’s always :l there is no parking space, there is no taxi, etc before he had even a look ! If we both would be like that I think we better hang ourselves, lol !
.-= Gattina´s last blog .. =-.
Gattina — yes! Two people as extreme as Amoeba & Mr. G. together would surely be so depressig they would never leave home!
Insurance might discourage Brer Murphy, but pessimism surely tempts him.
.-= Doug´s last blog ..Dance =-.
Doug — I know that! Tell Amoeba!
MWM is a pessimist too, thankfully I’m not so we balance each other out. LOL
.-= Akelamalu´s last blog ..Friday 55 Flash Fiction #105 Down to Earth…. =-.
Akelamalu — that’s how it’s supp0sed to work with Amoeba and I, too.
There we go! We have sandy cliffs here in Calvert County too. With houses built dangerously close them! I don’t go to the top of them… but they are pretty to see from the beach below! I haven’t been down there since I’ve had Mom… It’s like a two mile walk to get down — and of course, coming BACK it’s all UP hill… I doubt I’ll get back down there anytime soon.
.-= Melli´s last blog ..Snow Fun! =-.
Melli — I went down a cliff the other day, all the while wondering about going back up! But I made it without too much struggle.
the safest way to not slide off the road is to not drive on it – unless you have to, that is
erosion doesn’t happen overnight – although its conequences may
.-= polona´s last blog ..winter valley =-.
Polona — the road is well maintained, and it is the only way around that end of the island.
I hope he was closer to the ocean side of the road.
A Boy and His Toy
.-= Nessa´s last blog ..Flash 55 – Buried Secrets =-.
Nessa — coming out he was, going in I was.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock…
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Karen — and there’s my Bible lesson! I am certain that verse applies to roads, too!
No WAY are you two getting ME on that road! LOL I’m a real Nervous-Nellie when it comes to auto accidents. As much as I love my husband, my main reason for wanting him along this summer (don’t tell him this btw) is so that I won’t have to drive through the Rockies…. cliff roads terrify me.
ROADS terrify me.
:-/
.-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..The Ten (late) Happies =-.
Susan — the INTERSTATE highways through the Rockies aren’t really all that scary as far as roads go. They are big and wide and paved.