what we have here is a failure to communicate

Okay, so that’s an iffy (at best) way to describe my weekend – but during an effort to find things to do around the Island with visiting family members on some rather rainy days, the term “steampunk” came up once or twice. Especially while we were at the Seal Cove Auto Museum, where the term is almost entirely inappropriate, except in spirit. The gadgets they used to put on cars! Nifty lights, bells and whistles, mysterious switches and nobs. And the things look like they could produce wings ah la Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang at any moment, or morph into airships, no problem. Witness:

Also, later we encountered a bird with what can certainly be called speculative plumage:

And this definitely looks like a small Kraken or other mythic beastie, washed up and dried up but probably still ticking away somewhere inside waiting for the right something to set it off. Very Mieville.

Or, leaving wild imaginings aside, you could say my weekend was lovely and interesting despite or because of the rain. Museums, and quick hikes between storm clouds. A bit of bluster, a bit of fun, and a few visions in the fog.