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

Ethel.

A Republican Congressman interviewed on the radio tells us that the American President is 'uncommonly shrewd'. This is an unexpected take but sounds remarkably lucid. He then goes on to say' We are winning very big everywhere ' which is less eloquent. I'd like to say that listening to this all encompassing statement I feel my cares about the world ebb away like dew in the morning sun, but I don't. 

The sheep in the field by the mouth of the estuary are enjoying life. The grass is long and the weather mild. They'll stay here for another six or seven weeks before moving to more sheltered grazing well away from the coastal gales. The practical men who look after the golf links have names for all the sheep. Can you guess which one they call Ethel ? This  discovery makes us laugh aloud.

Each passing day brings more signs that the new semester is about to kick off. This morning the gardeners are busy watering the grass and trimming the flower borders outside chapel . They're whistling. When was the last time you heard people whistling ?

The hydrangeas outside the Classics department look as if they've enjoyed a long sunny summer.

It's the start of the American Labor Day holiday . The town has a 51st State feel to it. Helicopters clatter above us bringing the 1% from their Gulfstreams parked in Edinburgh to the 5 star hotels. By the club house teams of excited golfers are lined up ready for the off. We chat to the two third year medics who live next door to the wee house in town. They've got summer jobs as caddies and are  sharing their secrets of how to play the treacherous fairways with a group of  hedge fund managers from Stamford, Connecticut.  The hedgies seem keen to listen and the lads are hopeful they will be good tippers. They have adopted a caddying style that combines the deferential with the cheeky. The start of a new term brings with it all sorts of unexpected costs. One of them tells us 'freshers week' has really, really cool parties. We nod knowingly at this although neither of us has any idea what a 20 year old medic might think constitutes a cool party. It certainly won't be a bowl of fruit punch and a party hat.

I pop to the bookstore to pick up a new title ( that's been highly recommended ) and then stop for a coffee at the fancy new hotel near the aquarium. It's not warm but it's warm enough to sit outside and watch the world go by. The bar man is an early returning Classics student who doesn't complain when asked to bring my coffee outside. This willingness is a rarity in the local hospitality industry which thinks a warm welcome is 'What do you want ?'. 

Things I didn't know :https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/calf-muscles-heart

A pessimists rational for moving to Australia :https://www.sciencealert.com/no-place-on-earth-is-safe-if-all-hell-breaks-loose-but-one-place-is-safer-than-the-rest

German bureaucracy :https://x.com/Bundeskanz50246/status/2091791181533311472?s=20

Highland mystery :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-skeleton-found-inside-mysterious-stone-structure-in-scotland-archaeologists-still-dont-know-why-it-was-buried-there-180989391/

Dolly at the Palace :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvaBKRaEGs4&list=RDYZ76DYvA6m4&index=12

A change of scenery

Dolly Parton dies, the Ontario Premier gives as good as he gets and heavy rain with flash flooding is forecast in England. The BBC announcer informs us that some American commentators think the US is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Canada to divert attention from the lack of progress on Iran.

Elder sister arrives, unannounced and uninvited, in the kitchen. Her younger sister, imprisoned in the farmhouse garden, can be heard howling in the distance. Our visitor gives us a tried and tested ' I know I shouldn't be here but if you could spare a biscuit I'd be eternally grateful ' look. She gets half a ginger hobnob. This sets the tail wagging.

More geese heading along the coast.They pass by in a never ending conveyor belt. The geese fly down from the Arctic in search of warmth. Some will over winter here, others further south in Northumberland.  Their honking is one of lifes transient pleasures. The telegraph wires are empty this morning. A sign that the well fed and rested swallows have finally set off on their long journey to Africa. 

The bee numbers continue to fall but a hardy cohort  still beaver away in the lavender. By the end of the month they too will have gone. In Scotland September is a time of the year when all the stage scenery changes.

No action in the cabbage field. The replacement part still hasn't been despatched.

Two paragliders take off from the sand and head towards town. Look carefully and you can just see them. They are soon up at a thousand feet. There's Russian activity out towards Norway so four jet fighters come hurtling across the sky on their way to deal with whatever's going on. 'The Font' wonders if the paragliders have logged their flight path with air traffic control .

Our old Fermob table and chairs from France have been repainted.  I can't remember the original colour being that strident. They get their first christening in a surprise shower.

Timely. Heard this at the Fox theatre in Atlanta 50 years ago :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixrje2rXLMA

Rediscovered :https://e360.yale.edu/digest/spinach-pipefish-rediscovered

Unloved wild dogs :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/africa-wild-dogs-most-hated-carnivores-continent-heres-how-conservationists-saving-them-anyway-180989287/

History can be strangely prescient  :https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/benedict-arnolds-invasion-of-canada/