A quiet evening.

Town is swamped with parents dropping off their offspring. Home Counties mothers  park on double yellow lines, tailgates up and warning lights flashing, as improbable amounts of luggage are slowly unloaded. In medieval streets this becomes parking mayhem. 

This is the week when the trickle of returning students turns into a flood. The aisles in the only hardware store by the cathedral are solid with fathers buying microwaves for fourth year daughters. Why is it that white goods that worked when packed in May don't work when unpacked in September ? Freshers, who arrived a week earlier than the others, continue to wander the streets in the safety of groups. For many - perhaps most - this is the first experience of being away from parents and siblings. They have intense, furrowed brow, conversations with each other using words like matriculation and module. Little in life can match the intensity of an eighteen year old discussing course requirements. 

The students have now been joined by television engineers beginning to set up scaffolding for next months Dunhill Golf Tournament. American golfers en route to the Irish Open add to the chaos. Three gentlemen from Ohio are seen wearing identical ' Pray for President Trump 2026 ' hats. I'm not sure these will make getting last minute table reservations around here any easier. Faced with all this feverish activity we decide to head to Glasgow for a quiet evening.

There's time for a pre-dinner drink in one of our favourite watering holes. The place is usually empty but has been written up in a Spanish places you must visit before you die magazine and is full of brightly dressed Madrileno couples drinking martinis. The local Glaswegians seem inured to this cultural invasion.

It's literally a minutes walk from the bar to the restaurant during which time the drizzle turns into a downpour. We usually order from the a la Carte menu but opt for the tasting menu. This turns out to  feature the best cooked Monkfish tail we've ever tasted. The Kanzuri sauce it comes with could be seriously addictive. There are 22 diners this evening which is just enough to make the place feel 'buzzy'. The service manages to be friendly and perfectly timed which is an unusually agreeable ( and rare ) combination.

We stay in the uber chic and very dark modern hotel . Angus finds the shower tray slippery and the lighting too dark for shaving. On top of this the television doesn't work and the bedside lamp emits a strange high pitched hum. I unscrew the bulb  and the problem disappears but the black walled darkness becomes deeper. We shall go back to Devonshire Gardens on our next visit to Glasgow. First thing in the morning there's a quick detour to an art gallery that we used to buy from forty years ago. We mistakenly thought Covid had killed it along with the other galleries that used to cluster here.  The quiet subtlety of this etching catches our eye.

This horse sculpture was done by the artist who did the Kelpies in Falkirk and has a price to match. 'The Font' isn't convinced about the proportions. Now we've downsized from a house of  800 square metres to one a quarter of that size acquisitions have to be made more 'judiciously'.

A fun copper hare from an Edinburgh artist.

Dog paintings usually, but not always, attract our attention.

There's just enough time for an espresso and croissant ( it gets a score of 8/10 which as good as you'll get in Scoptland ) at the cafe next to the station. The Intercity to Dundee gets us there on time and the connector to St Andrews arrives early. We have to wait on the platform for less than two minutes. From the front door of the gallery to the station car park takes an hour and a half. The rail journey from Dundee to Glasgow has to be one of the most scenic and unexplored in the country. It is also pleasantly empty.

Bizarre story of the week :https://spacedaily.com/k-humpback-whales-are-interrupting-orca-hunts-to-rescue-completely-different-species-swimming-underneath-a-doomed-seal-and-lifting-it-out-of-the-water-on-their-chest-or-forming-a-wall-between-the-kill/

Squid:https://www.sciencealert.com/squid-are-taking-over-the-ocean-and-not-for-the-reason-you-might-think

Judgements :https://psyche.co/ideas/why-you-should-try-living-without-free-will-for-two-weeks

Pre-commemoration :https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-untold-pre-history-of-9-11

Mirth.

 The weather starts off a bit 'iffy' but soon the sun is out and it's warm.

This years intake of freshers are gathering early for their first pier walk. This is a time honoured tradition and like all good traditions it survives because it serves a useful purpose. In this case it's a great way to meet new people.

A large turnout this year. Of the 2000 or so freshmen I'd estimate that 80% have shown up. In fact there's so many a queue soon forms that stretches all the way back from the pier to the castle. Four large buses carrying Spanish tourists arrive as the proceedings are about to start. The tourists take photos and wonder what sort of ceremony this can be. Is it a cult ?

Boys walk slowly towards the harbour in the hope the girls will talk to them. The  lads are, for the most part disappointed, but this doesn't stop them from trying.

Parents are, as is so often the case, more visibly excited than their offspring . They cheer and clap whereas their teenagers maintain an air of aloof detachment as if this is something they do every day. We are asked to  take pictures of a Singaporean grandfather and his wife who are here to watch their grandson walk to the end of the pier. " I didn't believe I'd ever see this " he says mopping his eyes with a handkerchief . His wife exudes the sort of ' no words can describe it'  happiness that God reserves for grandmothers.  Three American ladies introduce themselves and inform us their sons are starting off here. "We're so proud " they say in perfect unison. We tell them the boys must be 'smart cookies' which is true but I'm not sure that it's politically correct to say that these days. Demand from the US is up 15% this year ( although numbers for international students remain capped at last years levels ) and we tell the mothers their sons are among the smartest cohort ever . They take this at face value and wander off to tell their husbands this good ( if statistically dubious )  news.

When the youngsters reach the end of the pier there's a ladder you have to climb up  to a higher level . Some of the young women are finding that the combination of ladder and strong breezes requires the help of 'gallant' young men to pull them up. This takes time. Mirth is in the air. Much ice is broken.

The guests at the fancy American wedding are still around. In the afternoon we see them wearing dinner jackets and black ties heading into the town kirk for a private concert. We spot the lunatic uncle ( every family has one ) who is still dressed for a walk on role in Outlander. The women are in stylishly impractical heels. The men are all sockless and wearing velvet slippers. Is black tie without socks a thing ? When I say 'all' the men are sockless this does not include the English side of the family who are sensibly shod for the Scottish weather.

Life dilemmas :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/the-ordering-problem

Growth :https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/08/31/fits-and-starts/

Age :https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2026/09/an-aging-world.html

Old traditions.

I don't think I've ever seen the town so busy. On Saturday afternoon a mixture of Labor Day golfers arriving from Edinburgh airport in their rental cars meet parents dropping off their teenagers at their dorms. Add in the European tourists in their motor homes and a traffic jam of Biblical proportions ensues.  We're supposed to go to hear a former Prime Minister read excerpts from his new book but finding a parking place proves difficult. We head home and enjoy a glass of 2019 Chateau L'Evangile in the garden as the sun sets. This is probably the last night for six months a while that it will still be warm enough to do so. The day ends with South Africa beating New Zealand in a edge of seat rugby match.

A group of lady golfers from Calgary are watched by some Italian tourists and a few student girls. The Canadians golfers are a cheerful bunch. There are more Canadian flags flying around town around this year than last. In these undemonstrative parts that may quietly say something.

As of tomorrow morning Chapel will be open for morning prayers. Male students for some reason almost never seem to appear before ten. However, the smarter boys will soon discover that morning prayers attracts lots of  girls who might actually talk to them. By the end of the week it will be standing room only. Doubly so when free biscuits and coffee are being offered. 

'In the beginning' a suitable text for the first Sunday of Freshers week. After the sermon the newbies will put on their red woolen gowns and process down to the end of the pier and back. This is probably the most filmed of the old traditions. A couple of thousand students will be watched by a cohort of dedicated  parents :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF8Xs2W7BLM  . If nothing else these old traditions serve as excellent boy meet girl ice breakers. Perhaps that's why they've survived for so long . Wiser parents will not outstay their welcome and will quickly be on the road south.

In the basement I find an old map of Scotland showing the German Sea. After the Battle of Jutland in 1916 anti-German sentiment became so strong the name was changed to the North Sea and so it has remained. Some name changes are popular and last. Others don't stand the test of time .

Wendell Berry :https://writingteacher.substack.com/p/what-wendell-berry-taught-me-about

Morningside Heights. Who knew it was so important or had such a history ? :https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780231534819_A34803096/preview-9780231534819_A34803096.pdf

Spotting celebrities . Very LA :https://thebrokenelbow.substack.com/p/living-in-la-and-spotting-celebrities

There is a certain sort of man who thrives on this sort of social media :https://operationalartofwar.substack.com/p/a-us-invasion-of-canada

Our local professor strikes a  worried tone :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-update-201-it-will-be-a-brutal

Continuity is a greatly underestimated virtue.

Seven bees at work on the lavender beds this morning. Two weeks ago there were hundreds. Yesterday twelve. Tomorrow ?

The autumn winds are blowing from the west at 40 mph. The Gannets ride them sixty or seventy feet into the air before plunging down at right angles into the sea.  One of the young lecturers is out on the village beach with his three and five year olds. They stand and watch these dare devil divers and, when the bobble hatted youngsters are looking in the right direction, clap .

The trickle of incoming teenagers has turned into a flood. The average age of the people you pass in the street has fallen by thirty, possibly forty, years. Some of the incomers look barely old enough to be out on their own. A high proportion appear to be having the time of their lives. Others seem petrified. Most have an air of slight bewilderment. They move around in the safety of groups. Proud parents bustle proprietorially around. Mothers get weepy.  Younger siblings wonder why they've been dragged along. Fathers head to the golf course bars. This is one of lifes great generation unto generation moments.  We see three young couples holding hands in that tentative way that eighteen year olds do. This is reassuring proof that Freshers quickly get their bearings and get down to doing what Freshers always do. Continuity is a greatly underestimated and reassuring virtue.

Wedding time. 1960's era Rolls Royces bedecked with  wedding ribbons are lined up by chapel. Chauffeurs stand around in grey suits. 'The Font' notes three of them wearing pocket squares. Clearly these are 'fancy' weddings. Pipes play. From the pavement outside we hear this decidedly non-Scottish hymn being sung lustily :https://youtu.be/wD9-djEuEjM?t=171  This is standard end of ceremony fare at polite English weddings but is the first time either of us has ever heard it sung in Scotland. Turns out to be an English lad marrying an American girl so I guess it's forgivable allowable. The English guests wear tails, the Americans are evenly split between suits or kilts. A gentleman from Los Angeles ( presumably a relation of the bride ) enters  into the spirit of things by adopting a Braveheart look complete with a shield. We stand and watch this cultural melee in awe struck silence.

More European accents heard around the place this year which is a sign that things are starting to remedy themselves after the self harm of Brexit. 

Out here the farmer is still waiting for the part to arrive for the all singing all dancing cabbage harvesting machine. Next week the eldest son heads back to Edinburgh and daughter starts law school. Youngest son remains blase about heading south.

11C. A  high of 17C forecast for this afternoon. 'The Font' makes it clear that this is the time to switch on the central heating.

Weekend reading:

Eggs :https://takshashiladispatch.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-egg

Unusual research from London :https://www.qmul.ac.uk/news/latest-news/2026/science-and-engineering/se/chimpanzees-have-accents-too-study-finds.html

Developments on Saturn :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-mysterious-decagon-unexpectedly-appeared-around-saturns-south-pole-the-ten-sided-shape-seems-to-be-a-wave-in-the-atmosphere-180989449/

Horrifying and infuriating. What are we doing to the planet ?:https://gizmodo.com/australia-is-evacuating-an-antarctic-base-so-no-one-has-to-watch-thousands-of-seals-die-2000807054

What a sunrise

3 large Gulfstream jets fly low over the courtyard before turning on final approach into Dundee. Labor Day brings with it some big spending Americans determined to make a long weekend of it.

The dawn comes up like thunder.  If I saw the sky looking like this in December I'd know for sure snow was on the way but today the weather is calm and mild.

By the time we've made it down to the beach the sun has risen through the clouds and the light has developed that northern latitude softness.

Christmas pudding appears on the shelves in the supermarket.

Angus isn't the only one who has detected that winter is on the way. Is having Christmas Puddings on sale in early September some kind of record ?

Friday morning Faure :https://youtu.be/7JLRbOalScw

The well travelled fish finger :https://edconway.substack.com/p/the-30000-mile-fish-finger

Alternatives to burning trash:https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/just-bury-your-trash

Weighty but reassuring :https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/25/russia-ukraine-war-nuclear-weapons-escalation-putin-defeat

Worth scrolling down to read about the Bayeux tapestry and Winston and Charles  :https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/a-short-pause

Sweeteners :https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-zero-cal-sugar-is-3500-times-sweeter-than-sucrose-but-doesnt-spike-insulin

The incident.

On the news this morning we learn that the American Vice President has shared his belief that " I'm doing as much of Gods work as possible and if that leads to the end times then I'm ok with that ". A self styled friend of the VP is interviewed. He informs us that 'On matters of immigration JD is more in touch with Catholic doctrine than the Pope'. The interviewer lapses into silence at this point.

Still no sign of the replacement part for the cabbage harvesting machine. The Dutch manufacturer has never known a machine break down so soon after being bought. The inference is that it's the farmers fault . This is making relations between the distributor and the farmer somewhat antagonistic toxic fraught.

There's a group of Japanese teenagers standing outside the front door of the wee house in town filming a group of flustered American retirees who are shouting and arguing. A woman is calling a man in the drivers seat of a mini van 'dumb as a box of rocks' while a man in the back of the van is loudly telling the driver to 'get out of here '. A gentleman from San Bernardino has attempted a U turn and misjudged both his speed and  the length of the Mercedes . He's hit the back of the little BMW and lost two hub caps in the process. Under stress he's pressed all the buttons on the Mercs dashboard and now the satellite emergency location system is emitting a klaxon like noise not unlike that you hear in movies involving the melt down of  a nuclear reactor. 

I introduce myself as the BMW's owner. 'Oh' he says in a tone of voice that makes it clear that Angus is the last person he wants to see. The conversation starts with ' I'm not used to driving on the wrong side of the road ' before sharing, with a surprising degree of candour, his thoughts about driving overseas. His wife, who is still shouting, finds their rental agreement. I phone the  company in Edinburgh who ask me to send through some photos. Five minutes later they're back on the phone saying they'll pay for the repairs and provide us with a rental car in the interim. A  replacement van for the Mercedes driver will be arranged. The drivers wife finally calms down. I reassure them that the damage is superficial, that they don't need to report it to the Police and that they should just go back to their hotel and relax. They are surprised all the paper work has been taken care of. The drivers view on 'overseas' driving regulations remains unchanged.

This morning the insurers body shop was on the phone at seven asking for more photos and for some dates when they can work on the car. " Looks like cracks in at least four body panels so better allow five or six days " says a man who seems to enjoy his work. The insurance companies have been efficient and easy to work with. Who would ever have expected that ?  

Thought for the day :https://iai.tv/articles/penroses-theory-of-consciousness-supported-by-new-quantum-evidence-auid-3667

A Canadian oddity :https://www.sciencealert.com/a-mysterious-island-has-emerged-in-a-canadian-lake

A trip to a demolition Derby :https://www.commonreader.co.uk/p/smash-bang-and-civilization

A glut of cherry tomatoes.

The weather proving to be very Scottish. Bright sunshine one minute, desultory wind and rain the next. The last of our visitors has gone so today will be spent with the cleaning ladies getting the wee house in town ready for the new Texan tenants who may, or may not, be arriving tomorrow.

More and more youngsters showing up in the cafes. Not yet a flood ( that will come on Saturday and Sunday with the arrival of the Freshers ) but definitely a strong trickle of fresh faces appearing. Everyone seems happy.

Twelve hardy bees on the lavender beds this morning. Above us flocks of honking geese continue to fly over on their way south. There's not as many of them this year but this is based on observation not scientific foundation. The starlings are now turning their attention to this seasons rose hips which seem particularly lustrous.

The souvenir shop windows offer visitors four major options:

1) Loch Ness monsters ( sometimes mixed up with green non-aquatic dinosaurs ) 

2) Smiling Highland Cows .

3) Westies ( or any dog that is white and fluffy ) and Scotties wearing a tartan bunnet and a badge with the word 'Mac' printed on it. 

4) 'Plaid' Golf club covers for golfers wishing to demonstrate to their fellow country club members that they've been to ( but not necessarily played ) the home of golf.

There is also a fifth option which is any ( or all of the above ) printed on a mug.

Scotland is a veritable super power in the trinket market. I'd wager that 90% of these products are made in Chengdu and the other 10% in Bangladesh. 

This morning the cheesemonger has gone overboard with its offering of exotic cherry tomatoes. It seems that the heatwave on the continent has impaired the output of large tomatoes ( anything above 35C and their yield plummets as the plants self regulate and drop their flowers to save water ) but boosted the small tomato crop. The things you learn on a start of day walk.

Overheard outside the music centre some Chinese music :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCthiLvVh7A

Scroll through to get the full experience. Our ancestors would marvel at our good luck :https://ordinaryabundance.com/

How long before a series based on this appears on Netflix ? :https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/alleged-dimethylmercury-incident

For anyone who has ever visited East Anglia its hard to believe there was a time when it wasn't flat :https://gizmodo.com/scientists-discover-a-hidden-supervolcano-buried-beneath-england-2000805057

Stonehenge :https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20260828-the-startling-1960s-theory-that-stonehenge-was-a-prehistoric-computer