Overners

The rain was supposed to continue the rest of the day, but suddenly stopped and the sun brightened everything. We decided to escape from the house and have a walk after all. It's a short drive to St.Helen's, to the Duver and because we like it, we went over there for some fresh air.

Everything was wet and soaked, it caused the seaweed on the beach to be less smelly. Normally there is an odour of rotting when the tide is ebbing, but even with an amazing low tide the air now was as clean as it looked fresh. In the blue sky the full moon was visible, always a strange sight during daytime.

From our island we could see the mainland on the other side of the Solent, the winter sun shone on Portsmouth and made reflections of the Spinnaker Tower, so it looked like it was a source of light.
In the distance four "parked" freight ships were on the water, together with the ferry that moved quickly along, on it's way to Brittany. Far away to the right the Condor came in sight, this ferry coming from the Channel Islands.

Seagulls were bobbing on the water, a group of geese flew over, some crows were searching for food next to a bin, sanderlings ran over the beach, frequently pecking in the sand. A few people were walking their dogs on the beach. All in all, there is always a lot to see on and near the Solent. We were standing still, just admiring the sight.

"What a lovely sight, isn't it?" An elderly lady was standing on the edge of the car park, looking at the same things as us. We discussed living on the island. We had been living there longer, but I stated that - of course - this didn't make us Islanders. We all agreed, we were Overners in the eyes of the Islanders. It's hard to become an Islander, it's impossible. You have to be born on the island to be one. It's also hard to become really acquainted to Islanders, it sometimes even looks like that you only get more words from them when there is a profit to be made, the old lady joked.

So we agreed again that it was really lovely to live on the island and that it was important for Overners to be friendly and communicate with each other. We told her we should resume our walk and after exchanging names said goodbye to the friendly lady. She was going to search for her husband and their three rescue dogs.
"See you next time!"
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