… and so the sea seemed green.

In this post I will look at a few things said about conversation by Paul written about 65AD as a prisoner in Rome and then look at the storm named Francis that we saw a bit of from Friday till now.

First Paul, who the Romans put in prison and then chained him to a soldier. It is easy to see how all the elite soldiers knew who he was because he talked so much about Jesus. (I guess they took turns to be chained to him.)

Here is a summary of one of the things he said about conversation: ‘ Stop lying, speak the truth to your neighbour. We are members of one another. Be angry but don’t sin, don’t let the day end being angry. (Sort it out). Don’t give the devil a place. Don’t let corrupt communication come from your mouth rather let it be so good that it buulds up the hearer and gives grace…

And don’t hurt the feelings of the Holy Spirit of God by which you are sealed until the day of redemption… ( This is all in Ephesians 4: 25-32)

He again writes a letter to the people in Colossians and says: ‘May our speech be with grace like food seasoned with salt. So that we answer each person in the right way.’ Colossoans 4: 2-6.

Now for the storm.

As storm Francis had its affect near Alvor our beach café filled with those taking shelter. The wind was what made the rain sting legs and faces and it was good to have some shelter. The sea seemed green against all the grey as the waves broke much higher up on the sands.

This was Friday afternoon just before the rain started.

Grey and green, beige and taupe. Why this change in colour to the sea? Here in the Algarve it is suspended phytoplankton ( algae) and other nutrients which reflect green light and then with the grey sky blue light is scattered and doesn’t penertrate so easily as on a sunny day. We had to leave the shelter as it was not going to stop. Bess, our Spaniel dog, found the rain in her eyes and the force of the wind too much as we walked the board walk so we went back behind the buildings along the road. This provided some shelter but we were soaked by the time we reached Bugzy.

That night had periodic blasts of wind with rain then stillness but the next morning I did laughingly say to Roy: ‘ I would love to go see if the sea is still there with all that wind.’

Rain makes a difference to land but what about the sea? It certainly does. Rain creates a fresh, cool less dense layer on the surface altering waves and currents and impacting weather and climate… the detail is fascinating!

After a day of intermittent rain and wind the sea is still more green and the sky grey. However, as the sun set on another day, Saturday, our Sabbath the sun came out for a while and I got a green blue sea to see.

To end here are some wise words from Francis Bacon:

‘ A person who studies revenge keeps their own wounds green.’

We are expecting more rain tonight but for us we think the worst is over.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Sandy 🙂