Be ready.

Yesterday was cold with heavy, face stinging rain. Even the farmers wife ( and the dogs ) stayed indoors. Today the downpour seems to have blown through and there are patches of blue sky. More rain and even stronger winds are forecast for tonight. Our Indian summer seems to have come to an end.

Bunches of wheat and linseed for sale outside the cheese shop. To me the  prices seem surprisingly high. 

There's a group of a dozen or so identically dressed gentlemen in Starbucks. " We're Broncos fans " says one to 'The Font' by way of introduction. ' How delightful ' comes the reply.  He then asks " You gotta school in this town ?" On learning that we do he turns to his colleagues and announces " They gotta school here ". This seems to satisfy their curiosity because after that they go back to looking at their phones and lapse into silence. We are left in the dark as to why a dozen affable  men in matching windbreakers should be in Starbucks at break of day on a blowy October morning.

On Wednesday the Defence Secretary urged all citizens to stock up on their 'Be ready' emergency supplies. Yesterday the Prime Minister did the same. This morning a leaflet from the electricity company comes with the post and tells us what to do if if the power goes off. Someone, somewhere is trying to tell us something. Later today we shall check on our 'resiliency' stores.  The torch batteries are all fully charged and the wind up radio works. There is no shortage of wine but we will need to order some more bottled water and tinned fish. The gas hobs will work ( for a while ) which means we can warm up baked beans although toasting bread will be more of a challenge.

Some theatrical music on the car radio this morning :https://youtu.be/7fLMEl6nPXk?t=165

Peculiar Scottish exams and why Scots go to university a year earlier than the English at 17 :https://alexanderhthompson.substack.com/p/exam-of-the-month-the-scottish-csys

Potato salad :https://theyorkshiregourmet.substack.com/p/the-glorious-indistinction-of-schlotzigkeit

A whale grave :https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-dug-into-a-weird-patch-on-the-seafloor-they-unearthed-a-watery-grave

Accents :https://news.osu.edu/how-much-control-do-we-have-over-picking-up-an-accent-a-lot-study-finds/

Change is both necessary and impossible.

The old mayor phones from the little village in France. Last nights local council meeting was a heated affair. When a Frenchman says it was 'heated' you know that things were really on fire. Anger management man stormed out after calling the new mayor ( who comes from Macrons party ) a fascist imbecile. He also said some other things that are perhaps best not repeated. The cause of the anger was a planned village budget that is 'merely'  set to rise in line with inflation. Some think this is austerity while others, aware of the debt crisis, think it's profligate. ' On en reste coi '. The old mayor doesn't think things are as bad as they were during the gilet jaune time six years ago. This was when tempers were even more frayed and the local farmers closed off the motorway and set fire to the coffee hut by the roundabout. The old mayors view on the world is very French - " Change is both necessary and impossible ".

This weeks Private Eye's front cover as wry as ever.

The Georgian entrance to one of the old medieval merchants houses is a thing of time worn, understated, beauty. On a grey, wintry morning the towns front doors are a source of warming colour.

The 'new' restaurant is doing well. The Halloween display at the front door has ( so far ) withstood the weather and partying students.

Why is it teenagers want to decorate their windows ? Is this a feature of all college towns ?

We are ignored by the flock of sheep with the exception of 'Ethel' who glares at us.

The weather colder and the wind has more of a nip. Rain and strong winds are expected later in the day. It's been a revision week so many of the youngsters have gone home to get their laundry done and rediscover what it's like to eat sensible food at sensible times. This does not apply to the four medical students in the flat down the road who maintain a party routine that would put Dionysus to shame. I'm guessing 'revision' has not been a priority.

Radio Scotland in a reflective mood this morning :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL7HkwnzENo

Halloween :https://www.britannica.com/video/origins-of-Halloween-explained/-287163

Why necks evolved :https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/why-did-animals-evolve-necks-study-reveals-it-wasnt-turning-their-heads

The papers here agree that this is quite remarkable ( but not in a good way ) :https://popular.info/p/the-corporate-cash-behind-vivek-ramaswamys

Eco-friendly tyres :https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/10/the-case-for-a-more-sustainable-tire-that-comes-apart-on-purpose/

A concise take from Yale Law :https://www.justsecurity.org/159847/servant-law-president-chief-prosecutor/

Todays word cloud.

The sight of the sun rising over the cabbage field is almost bucolic - or as bucolic as a view of a field of cabbages can be. The farmers crew of cheerful Tajiks and Somalis have headed home for the winter so cabbage harvesting will need to wait until the two sons are back for Christmas. Sometimes the crows perch on top of the cabbages which is a peculiar and humorous sight.

Based on the morning news todays word cloud would have 'Humanitarian' and 'Mendacity' stamped in large letters in the centre.

It rained on and off yesterday so this mornings bright skies and mild breezes are welcomed by both humans and the local gull population. The gulls thrive in a university town where students leave half eaten burgers and the remains of fish and chip suppers in easily accessible waste bins. This is a text book example of humans and nature working in perfect harmony.

All the local lobster fishermen are out resetting their creels after a hectic tourist season. One of the local restaurants is already advertising Christmas Eve lobster dinners delivered to your door. Lobster pricing is all over the place. At the fish and chip shop in town you can get lobster and chips for £25. In the fancy golf restaurant with a panoramic view of the 18th tee a less fresh lobster will set you back £84. Add on the ever present Koffmann fries ( £12) and service charge and you're getting close to £110.

The morning peace is disturbed by a group of 'them' partying on the brae above the harbour. We don't recognize any of the din music that is being played. I think it surprising that they're up so early. 'The Font' thinks it more probable that they haven't gone to bed yet. On reflection this seems a more likely explanation. This is what happens in a town where a large portion of the population are barely a quarter of your age. 

Marie Antoinettes last letter :https://x.com/CeJourHistoire/status/2111033673386770613

The first 'scientific' Ghost Hunter :https://theconversation.com/the-17th-century-british-scientists-who-investigated-hauntings-294526

Nubian history :https://thedebrief.org/an-ancient-temple-in-sudan-is-challenging-what-we-thought-we-knew-about-egypts-powerful-neighbor/

More important than Darwin ? :https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/selfish-gene-50-124500760.html

A democracy in peril :https://www.persuasion.community/p/ukraines-cities-are-dying

The leaves fall.

It's suddenly darker in the mornings. It's also colder and wetter. Overnight the leaves on the trees in town have started to fall. The lines between the parking spaces completely covered in a carpet of orange and red. It's as though someone has flipped a switch.

The Halloween window display in the outfitters window more upmarket than the ones you usually see.

A poster in the window informs us that Greggs will soon unveil their Festive chicken bake. This is somewhat deceptively oddly advertised with two alarmed looking turkeys rather than chickens. At this time in the morning Greggs is busy with local painters and roofers buying sausage rolls. In an hour or so the clientele shifts towards students on their way to nine am lectures. Town and gown run parallel lives.

The local paper informs us that prices at the local cattle auction were 'reasonable'. Logie Lochnagar may or may not agree. How quaint that livestock auction prices are still quoted in guineas.

A busy night in the skies overhead. This morning the postman tells us that the local airbase is crammed with fighter jets. Seems we're sending aircraft and advisors to help the Saudis. It looks as if the Iran thing may suddenly kick off again. As the postman drives away  a couple of those large RAF cargo planes appear and start a long slow lumbering descent over the bay. 

The farmer is bringing in the hay bales from the field by the heron pond. There's nearly 300 of them needing to be shipped to a farm on the Borders where there's a shortage of winter cattle feed. He's getting £100 a bale which makes it a profitable days work. A fleet of large flat beds from a haulier in Hawick are already waiting, engines running, by the potato barns. 

A shrinking Iran :https://x.com/sinatoossi/status/2112198648909939173?s=46&t=fSypFxt84bBHId-do9r5Ag

Self driving cars :https://www.acsh.org/news/2026/10/16/why-are-trial-lawyers-afraid-self-driving-cars-50394

'The Font' tries to engage me in a discussion of this article. The conversation is brief and one sided :https://www.quantamagazine.org/ai-proved-the-quasi-riemann-hypothesis-what-happens-now-20261019/

Female 'intelligence'.

Watchful eyes down on the beach. Not one but two HM Coastguard vehicles are on duty to ensure that any youthful high jinks are 'safe'. A couple of young Canadians have been celebrating the Alberta referendum results and despite being right royally inebriated are chatting amiably with the search and rescue team.

Some of the rugby team are keen to demonstrate their alpha male DNA. A few  plunge into the waves . Others pause  at that dangerous moment when the sea covers their knees. Yet others stop and turn around and head back to dry land as the freezing water makes itself felt. America's Secretary of War would most certainly not approve of their European wimpishness.  A group of enthusiastic young ladies cheer the lads on from the warmth of the foreshore. Oddly none of the female students seem keen to join the rugby players in the water. This may say something about the relative 'intelligence' of the sexes.

Party day costumes ....

.... much in evidence.

We were late getting back from the beach. By the time we made it into town the foam fight was already underway.

The presence of TV cameras and large tour groups indicate that this quaint little ceremony has been discovered by ' influencers ' :https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/oct/19/st-andrews-university-scotland-students-raisin-monday-foam-war

Party season over St Andrews now moves into hibernatory mode. Parking will be easy, dinner reservations become a doddle , the Christmas lights go up and the youngsters ( some of whom have become party animals ) remember that end of semester exams are a mere seven weeks away.

Hidden gems. Finlands 'national' painting :https://news.artnet.com/art-world/why-this-cryptic-masterpiece-became-a-touchstone-of-finnish-culture-2674602

3 child families in decline ( apart from in the 1% ) :https://newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/what-distinguishes-the-1-from-the

More Norwegian research on esoteric subjects. Poisoned rats :https://www.sciencenorway.no/animal-kingdom-pests-society/researcher-this-is-the-only-way-to-get-rid-of-rats/2721624

Vampiric birds :https://www.popsci.com/science/vampire-bird-finch-galapagos/

One of my favourite Scottish journalists pithy take on things :https://x.com/alexmassie/status/2111924133713920397

Party time

 'They' are up and about early. It's an old medieval holiday designed to let students go off and buy raisins to see them through the long dark winters. In the 1400's it was a matter of holding off scurvy and having something to tart up the blandness of your oats. Today it's become an excuse for the town to become one vast fancy dress party. 

Down on the small beach there must be five or six hundred youngsters. There's probably three times that number on the bigger beach by the Old Course. Their  shrieks and Walrus like bellowings can be heard from the far end of town. 

Dog owners gawp at the partying youngsters. To the students anyone over the advanced age of 25 is somehow invisible. By this I mean not just invisible but completely invisible. They are at that glorious and unrepeatable stage in life where they're immortal and the universe revolves around them. Let them enjoy it . 

A string of makeshift bonfires line the sand and attract those suffering from North Sea exposure. Other students find even more 'intuitive' ways to keep warm. H M Coastguard, prudently, have two trucks keeping an eye on things.

Later today there will be more parties and an enormous foam fight on the grass behind the Quad. First years think this is exciting. Older students view it with the special form of institutional disdain that a year or twos seniority can bestow. In this respect it's no different from the Navy - although foam fights are less common there.

Back out here in the village it's calm. On our way home we see the body of a young deer lying by the roadside. It's been hit by a car at the spot where the 40 mph speed limit changes to 60. This is sad as we've seen the deer and a sibling in the wheat field by the house for the last couple of weeks. This morning the surviving adolescent is looking lonely and forlorn as it grazes between the haystacks.

The weather, as you can see, continues to be perfect . The lack of cloud cover has one downside. It is nippy. Barely 2C this morning.

There's something old fashionedly charming in this U Nebraska video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BriW_TVTDY

You could have asked this question at anytime in the last 30 years :https://unherd.com/2026/10/is-france-about-to-default/?edition=us

A bartenders view of the world :https://www.insidehook.com/cocktails/bartender-your-drink-order-says-you

Yesterdays sermon topic could be read at least two ways :

Deeply reassuring.

It's the RSPB's annual golden plover census and bird watchers from far and wide have been out and about counting our local population. The first twitchers arrive just before seven. Around their necks they carry improbably large binoculars and cameras with enormous zoom lenses. Backpacks hide thermoses full of hot coffee and Greggs sausage rolls. The more ardent have small fold up aluminium chairs:https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/golden-plover. In a world bordering on madness the knowledge that there are people who care enough get up pre-dawn to watch over small waders is somehow deeply reassuring. One man tells me they are the 'most spiritual of birds ' which is a rather more profound turn to the conversation than I'd anticipated. He goes on to say that the wild tundra by the heron pond is home to species that he doesn't see anywhere else. This years westerly winds have brought in some unexpected visitors from Canada.

The weather's turned colder. 1.5C this morning which is cold enough to deter all but the most ardent young lovers from a post party dip in the North Sea. The supermarket has salted the car park in case of ice which is another of those little signs that the year is racing on as is the first winter frost on the little cars windscreen.

In Glasgow the schools are on half term and the town is already filling up with young families here for the weekend. The ice cream shop by the cathedral has some determined six year old breakfast time customers who are enjoying themselves under the watchful eyes of adoring grandparents.

The university groundsmen have given the lawn by the chapel a very formal trim in readiness for Raisin Monday. I would say this is peak party season but a moments reflection tells me that there's half a dozen student party hot spots scattered across the year.

From the Royal and Ancient club house patio there's a grand view across the links to the beach.

We head home up the hill and past the Martyrs Monument . This serves as a  reminder that this quiet little town was once the centre of wild and violent passions. It's 16th century Taliban moment.  Experience has taught it that good order, bordering on the boring, is vastly under rated.

The Zurbaran exhibition at the Louvre :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRCpY7ZpzDE

Glass bottomed boats I can live with but glass bottomed airships ? :https://oceanskycruises.com/

Stupidity. Reading this mornings papers I come to the conclusion there's something in this :https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/about-thinking/202610/stupidity-threatens-everything

How China became rich :https://substack.com/home/post/p-220276296

The Barbara Cartland cook book :https://substack.com/@thecandlestickreview/note/c-360648917

Our local American professor writes an update. Not sure this is going to do much for Tesla sales in this part of the world:https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-update-207-the-us-russia