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12/13/2005: "Less Quiet"

In the few hours since the last post, I went for a short walk down to the sea to see where the water was going, down the street pictured above (photo taken last week). Crossing the street was hard as it was all running water. Huge rocks (just under head-size) were being moved along in places by the force of water. A huge waterfall at the bottom, by the stairs to the beach, was making a loud roar. I walked out to the water, then saw a huge lightning bolt hit the water a few kilometer's out, and ran back to the road.

Though raining the whole time, for a brief minute the sun came out just before it set, and caused a huge rainbow to start from where the statue of the Madonna is. I also found out that the kid who died on those cliffs played baseball with the Gozo Mustangs, and from the Civil Protection Department site that Marc Bradshaw, 22, fell off the Mellieha cliffs in the early hours of Saturday 8 July. The rescuers managed to recover his dead body after nearly two hours of unsuccessful manoeuvres carried out by members of the three forces involved; while a qualified nurse, who was a friend of the victim, could feel a pulse throughout the whole rescue operation. Nobody from the rescue services went down the cliffs to offer medical assistance while the AFM could only send a helicopter at daybreak because (so they said) it could not operate a helicopter in the dark.

I'm going to drive into Bugibba soon to find a cafe with real coffee. The road goes by the sea numerous times.