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

Excitement

Razor clams stretching along the beach in  a strip ten metres wide and at least a mile long. Why the sea should throw them onto the sand in such large numbers is yet another of those mysteries that challenge the minds of early morning beach walkers. Dogs love the 'crunching' sound their paws make when they walk over them.

A very famous professional golfer out on the  links this morning. A man with his spaniel tries to take a surreptitious photograph.

Others are less surreptitious. Play backs up.

Back  in the village the cloud cover is beginning to give way to bright sunshine. It is remarkably warm so, for the moment, all thought of turning on the heating has gone. Still no sign of the spare part for the farmers hugely expensive ( and much prized ) cabbage machine.

There has been great excitement in town. Three Police cars were seen drawn up in a line near the church. It's rare to see one Police car let alone three. People stopped to gawp at the sight. Seems a shop owner had observed someone shoplifting. The paper this morning tells us a woman of 40 and a man of 49 have been  arrested. For the local dog owners this drama is the only topic of conversation.

Elgars calmest piece of music ? Ideal background as we enter the final third of the year :https://youtu.be/IwdeqVmXlHk?t=109

The Nepal disaster - some thoughts :https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/what-actually-caused-the-nepal-disaster

An important election :https://x.com/PedderSophie/status/2093978196064506067

The comments about Copenhagen and Edinburgh halfway through were interesting. The rest is written in a modern style that I just don't get. When did UnConferences become a thing ? :https://benyeoh.substack.com/p/you-dont-know-who-you-need-to-meet

Tajik quality control.

A nip in the air this morning. We remain resolute in our determination not to turn on the heating until mid September. However, that mid September target may be adjusted to 'beginning of '.

The farmer is back to harvest the potatoes in the small triangular field that runs down to the sea. This small plot was 'overlooked' by the boys when they were here on Saturday. It seems that after darkness fell they were keen to head home for their dinner and 'forgot. this corner.

On our morning walk from the courtyard to the shore we stop to see what's going on. A group of cheerful Tajiks sit on a bench in a covered area at the back of the harvester. Here they can check for any damaged potatoes on a conveyor belt linked to a plough at the front of the machine . Approved potatoes then pass onto a hoist that disgorges them into boxes . The whole process busy but efficient. Youngest son races a small electric 4x4 across the field to see how fast it will go. His elder brother cheers him on. The Tajiks laugh.

A rather jazzy tartan kilt on a model in an outfitters window. There is a pashmina in the same tartan next to it. Ideal for couples who wish to their coordinate their outfits. The crimson bow tie does not improve matters. The tout ensemble has something of a popular stage and screen feel to it.

End of the month  music on the radio this morning :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS1Xx1whEKc

Egypt travelog :https://chandhana.substack.com/p/notes-on-egypt

If this appeared in anything other than Foreign Policy I'd think it was a joke :https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/28/american-oligarchy-geopolitics-dictators-democracy-jared-kushner-trump/?tpcc=fp_weekend

The role of the garage :https://www.coolidgereview.com/articles/garage-silicon-valley

Someone writes something sensible on AI :https://rogermyerson.substack.com/p/potential-challenges-of-artificial

Belonged.

Our excitement this morning is provided by a gull that has found a small washed up flounder in a pocket of water on the beach. The bird cannot believe its good fortune. It chortles with delight.

The colours of the world around us are changing. The sea whiter. The clouds darker. Scotland is settling into winter.

Out here a few weeks ago the village fields were a sea of green and gold waiting to be harvested. Now the colour has gone and the land is wind swept and stubbly and waiting to be ploughed. As recompense russet winter sunrises paint the morning air with an Arctic intensity. 

After a hectic Saturday night the potato harvest is in. Now all that remains is for the cabbages to be cut and packaged. There's still no sign of the replacement part for the farmers state of the art cabbage picking machine but he hopes to start again on Thursday. Next week his youngest son will be heading to Edinburgh with his elder brother so that each can buy a suitably conservative suit for college 'functions'. " The costs are endless " observes their father.

A memorial stone makes us stop and pause. 'JDG belonged here' etched into the paving . 'Belonged' is a powerful word. There's something intense about this use of language. Born here, taught here, studied here, lived here, married here would be expected but 'belonged' carries a different, deeper signifier. We're left wondering who JDG was, what made them feel they had such happy roots in this place, and what, if anything, happened to them. Why should you belong to one spot and not another ? The shortest epitaphs often hide the greatest mysteries.

A lyrical insight into Canada :https://rossboulton1.substack.com/p/my-fellow-americans-canadian-porch

Swords into ploughshares :https://thedebrief.org/the-classified-roots-of-nasas-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-how-a-spy-agencys-secret-satellite-became-a-space-observatory/

Safe flying :https://uxmag.com/articles/is-knowledge-management-worth-it

Shopping malls and ugliness:https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/you-probably-own-this-7-eleven

Oil:https://www.cfr.org/articles/crude-calculations-why-the-iran-war-hasnt-yet-caused-an-oil-shock

Pre-semester calm.

Cloudy and humid this morning. Nature is shifting towards autumn and the university is gearing up for the new academic year. The two timetables seem to meld together naturally . The French call this glide into September La Rentree and treat it as a kind of mini New Year.  In France the seasons shift slowly. Here it's much more sudden. 

A few fresh faced early bird students can be seen dragging wheelie bags towards their dorm rooms. New faculty go to 'welcome and induction' courses where they learn how to navigate the peculiar complexities of educational bureaucracy. They don't look happy going in and they don't look any happier coming out. The area  around the golf course remains busy with boisterous Labor Day visitors but 300 metres away the university end of town is not just quiet but deserted.  We wonder how many visiting golfers even know there's a medieval cathedral here.

Three horses and their riders are heading back to the farm after their canter back and forwards along the sand. We wave politely . The usual cast of dog owners are out and about but apart from them we have the place to ourselves. The rhythms of summer are ending and the routines of winter are quietly slipping into place.

We pass a medical school classroom where the IT department are working overtime to get all the systems running smoothly for the return of the youngsters. Something ever so slightly apocalyptic about the sight of an empty lecture theatre with no one in it but all the lights  on and the screens flickering away.

An eclectic mix of books on a table in the book shop. This week I've read a book about the small ice age and the rapid fall in European populations during the 6th century. Climate change has always been a thing.  I've now started on the 'Blood Dawn'  book about Asia in the 30's and 40's which is a subject I  knew nothing at all about. This week there are book readings by authors on subjects as varied as Agrippa, Persian cookery, Galician mysteries and Celtic poetry. A former Prime Minister will be here next Saturday. This will attract a large audience and due to the numbers will be held in a local church instead of the bookstore. In a small university town there is always something to do.

The last of the bees hard at work on the lavender. I thought they might be gone by now but a few soldier on. We see two Swallows darting low over the beach but the House Martins and Swifts seem to have preempted them and already headed off on the long journey south. Gulls, pigeons and crows have settled in for the duration. We see a dozen partridges in the potato field. When the seasons turn they really turn. Three young deer appear in the courtyard which is a source of delight.  Life, as you can probably tell, is gloriously dull amid the pre-semester calm. These days I'm all for living in a place that's dull.

A psychic horse :https://theconversation.com/how-a-psychic-horse-named-clever-hans-changed-the-way-we-do-science-288745

Working in the cloud :https://vpostrel.substack.com/p/in-the-land-of-ai-and-bamboo-forks

Boredom :https://daily.jstor.org/not-all-boredom-is-the-same/

Surprise, surprise :https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/nx-s1-5944328/the-real-cause-of-most-wildfires-people

Very solemn and  Norwegian :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afG6Im-8TlI

A noble sentiment.

Who would ever have thought that Lake Ontario would feature prominently in the BBC's morning radio broadcast ? I check to make sure it's not April 1st.

Parking spaces in the medieval heart of St Andrews are designed for small cars. Modern models are much larger than their 1970'e era predecessors and their rear ends jut out far into the road . Driving through town is an obstacle course of dodging  oncoming traffic and parked super long SUV's. This stretched Land Rover is enormous. There are rumours that car parking charges may be levied on the length of the vehicle although this won't address the underlying problem. 

The church is getting ready for the Harvest Festival. Anywhere else in the world I'd think this was a peculiarly old fashioned tradition but not here. A hiker from Tennessee ( here to trace her Scots forebears ) studies a war memorial while the organist practices ' All is safely gathered in '. We buy tickets for the Harvest  barbecue. A case of wine has already been donated to help wash down the Smash burgers that are being made by the young American woman using the farmers rump steak. Older villagers are unsure about the concept of smash burgers but are willing to give them a try. " It's what young people eat " says the lady selling the tickets through slightly  pursed lips.  

The part for the cabbage harvester hasn't arrived and the farmer has now started on bringing in the potato crop. His two sons are still at home so he's keen to get as much done as he can while they're still around.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

The church although old is a bright cheerful place and the baptismal font is a simple thing of great beauty. One story says it was commissioned by a local family after their four year old son got lost in the woods. He followed the sound of the bells back to the church and safety. Another story says it commemorates the same four year old but after his death in a flying accident in 1926. The bells and the Royal Air Force crest carved on the front tell me that two stories may well be intertwined. Scottish churches may not have the grandeur of their English cousins but they make up for this with their simple intimacy. The names of two more of the same family's sons, both killed later in the Battle of Britain , are carved on a different memorial. 

Private Alex Hampton was in B Company of the Highland Cyclist Corps.  What in heavens name was that ? On the memorial brass the words 'How sleep the brave who sink to rest by all their country's wishes blest' . A noble sentiment for Alex and the other village lads. 

But 'Remembering you we will be brave and strong and meet the last adventure with a song ' might be less polished but more heartfelt.

Almost all of the family names inscribed on the memorial still live in the village which may explain why the building and its fixtures are so spruce. The scent of Pledge furniture polish doesn't so much fill the air as permeate it.

A fiery woman :https://stevepabst.substack.com/p/how-julia-dent-grant-engineered-the

Logical :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/if-we-knew-todays-mammals-only-from-fossils-wed-get-evolution-super-wrong/

Satellite congestion :https://www.supercluster.com/editorial/meteoroids-cersus-satellites-the-battle-brewing-above-our-heads

Allergies:https://www.the-scientist.com/why-allergies-strike-men-and-women-differently-74921