Happy Easter crowds

At one point last night Storm Dave barreled through bringing thunder and a ferocious blast of driving hail. There was, for all of two minutes, a complete white out. The sort of thing you might expect in the Highlands in January but not down here on the coast in April.  With the storm now safely out at sea Easter Sunday dawns bright and fair and full of promise. The chapel choir are busy practising for the morning service while out on the cliff there's a surprisingly large group of happy students welcoming the sunrise. Those with cans of lager are presumably Episcopalians. With resurrection in mind the Baptists have taken over the anatomy department car park for their Easter dawn gathering. 

On the town beach two horses have the place pretty much to themselves. The mess of pizza cartons and broken bottles left by Friday nights party goers has already been cleared up by the beach rangers.

The supermarket is out of unleaded but we're thankful when we find that the petrol station by the town gate has it. We fill the tank up. Everything should be back to normal by mid-week when the tourists have gone but why run the risk and wait ?

A cherry tree on a side road has managed to hold onto its petals through yesterdays gales. It's the only one to do so. University owned buildings have their doors painted in royal blue. This street has lots of royal blue doors.

A chocolate egg with a fudge doughnut is the bakers signature seasonal offering . Local grandparents stop off with toddlers to pick one up before they head off to the Easter service in the auld kirk. A taste sensation that hasn't changed in 50 years. 

This weeks cover on The Economist sums up the sense of bewilderment felt here.

Hats everywhere. St Thomas New York Easter 1929 :https://youtu.be/k469Xs54fxA?t=91

The most expensive Indian painting :https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/02/vaccine-billionaire-buys-179m-raja-ravi-varma-setting-new-record-for-indian-painting-at-auction

Africa :https://thisweekinafrica.substack.com/p/five-trends-that-will-shape-urban-3a7

Croissants:https://theangel.nyc/p/the-whole-grains-revolution-has-come-for-your-croissant-brooklyn-granary-and-mill-tehachapi-grain-project

Pancakes :https://marianbull.substack.com/p/cookbooks-are-an-archive-of-a-moment

Obscure French phrases :https://pardonmyfrench101.substack.com/p/to-fall-in-the-apples

A petrol shortage and melted Easter eggs.

Both the towns filling stations have sold out of petrol. We first hear the news from the policemans wife at the check-out counter in the supermarket. Within half an hour the farmer is at the front door to tell us. He puts it down to panic buying. Fresh deliveries are expected this afternoon. This is the first time the war in the Gulf has made itself felt in a direct way. The little hybrid BMW might , after all, prove to be a sensible purchase.  We're left wondering if our flight to Shanghai in two weeks time will still go. Times are changing.

Saturday morning dawns bright and fair. Some holiday makers have been partying on the beach and half a dozen broken beer bottles litter the sand. The lady with the Pomeranian picks up her dog and carries it well away from danger.

The roadworks on the street outside the book store were supposed to be finished on Friday. They weren't.  A large, deep hole ( and a correspondingly large pile of excavated earth ) remain. The hole is near the trendy cafe that's popular with 'hip' students. Green railings have been put up to stop any teenagers falling in and injuring themselves.

The three large Easter eggs that were in the bakers window have gone. Seems the sunshine earlier in the week was too much for them and they , according to the young man behind the counter, 'softened and deformed'. This is an unusual way of saying they melted. Tomorrow I shall ask him what became of them. 

The four golf courses are already busy. No sign of any Congressmen or Senators but it's still early.

Two enterprising students have got themselves qualified as caddies and are out advising players new to St Andrews on what clubs to use. The student caddies dress for comfort and shout out 'brilliant shot' every so often in an ego massaging tone of voice. What a clever way to ensure the end of match gratuity is 'maximized '. These commercial skill sets learnt on the golf course will be useful in later life.

Positive thinking :https://miniphilosophy.substack.com/p/getting-out-of-bed-and-turning-up

Easter in Malaga with the Spanish Foreign Legion. This most certainly isn't Presbyterian Scotland :https://youtu.be/-JeWzighvfs?t=100

Modern childhood is changing :https://bigthink.com/mind-behavior/the-quiet-disappearance-of-the-free-range-childhood/

People stopped being happy in 2020 :https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6465460

Towards a world of monosyllabic grunts :https://www.jezebel.com/speech-decline-in-words-humans-speak-per-day-year-loneliness-epidemic-friendship-recession-pandemic-phones

A French ambassador marks an anniversary 86 years ago :https://x.com/EmmanuelMignot2/status/2040320557590237198

No sooner do the tables go out than a storm arrives.

The serious man at the chocolate shop is opening up as we pass. His sales are down this year. A Galaxy Easter Egg is more than double the price it was in 2023 and the wildly popular Cadburys Creme Eggs , despite a bout of 'shrinkflation' , are 80% more expensive. Having digested this news ( and noted the intensity with which it is imparted ) we wish him well and walk on quickly .

Further down the road the ever hopeful local cafe owners are setting up tables on the pavement. It goes without saying that a  storm with 90 mph winds is forecast for Saturday night.

The bakers already selling out by the time we make it back into town from the beach. The holiday makers are in town.  A solitary rhubarb flan is all that remains of the dozen that were here half an hour ago.

As we're leaving a tray of Easter Chicks emerge from the store room.  They'll all be gone in half an hour. 

No comment about this headline on a paper in the supermarket. Seems the 'pearl clutching' UK  is being blamed for a war it wasn't consulted on. It also seems President Macron has also been facing some 'undiplomatic' comments. 

I'll wager that there will be some interesting presentations at this Iranian Studies gathering. 

This London exhibition is already a sell out :https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/queen-elizabeth-ii-her-life-in-style/the-kings-gallery-buckingham-palace

A good thing :https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/smart-drugs-are-here/

These people are always worth sitting down to read :https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/four-alternative-end-states-iran-only-good-one-becomes-unlikely

Spiders with claws :https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121624

On the net :https://www.persuasion.community/p/theres-no-such-thing-as-the-trump

Congressional tourists, a limestone surprise and a busy farmhouse.

Scotlands tourism is enjoying an Easter boost. The great and the good are in Edinburgh. Not everyone approves: :https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/01/taxpayers-sponsor-congress-scotland-vacation/?adid=social-tw  Tonight some of them may be at the bar by the 16th hole on the Old Course. What a small world.

Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times is always worth reading. This morning his column contains a psychological take on the man who gave a speech last night. The opening paragraph sets the tone .

The American boyfriend of the farmers daughter has arrived for Easter. The two of them travelled up from Oxford yesterday and were met at the airport by the farmers wife. The Range Rover was due to be washed for the occasion but the youngest son - who is now on his Easter school holidays -  never got round to it. The farmers wife seems satisfied with the guest. He's apparently 'very tall , very polite and has short hair and an American accent'. The dogs have accepted him which is a major plus.  I'm guessing the poor lad is absolutely petrified . The farmer has a certain Presbyterian dourness at the best of times. What he must be like with his daughters 'boyfriend' doesn't bear thinking about.

Down on the beach three metal detectorists are beavering away. Every so often we pass a small pile of disturbed sand where they've dug down to find something. What is it they unearth ? Small change ? Bottle caps ? Or, do they unearth unexpected  treasures from far away ?

In the other direction, away from the sun, the beach is quite quite empty. The shoreline here reminds me of Kiawah on the South Carolina coast but without the people ... or the warmth.

Back out in the village the municipal archaeologist is examining the remains of the  standing stone the farmer recently unearthed. Its now been dragged up to a corner of the field up by the farm track where it can't get in the way of the harvesting.

Everything around here is either sandstone or whinstone . However, this rock is limestone. If it was a standing stone it would have stood out like a lightning bolt in the landscape . The original colour and texture can be seen in the sections of the rock that have broken in two.

Mysterious :https://thedebrief.org/ohios-serpent-mound-still-fuels-debate-as-haunting-questions-remain-about-americas-most-mysterious-earthwork/

Rats thrive on cooperation :https://bigthink.com/science-tech/how-rats-conquered-earth/

Expensive Easter fun :https://birleybakery.com/collections/easter/products/mother-hen-family-1

A former President on humility :https://inpursuit.substack.com/p/george-washington-by-george-w-bush

How cool is this ? :https://x.com/TheNationalMall/status/2039475914623352894

Holidaying at home.

Welcome to April. Hard to know whether the news is real or April Fools Day jibes.  On the radio this morning we learn that the American President is to address the nation on Wednesday night. No one on BBC Scotland seems quite sure why. Some think he'll announce he's won and leave. Others that he's going to double down and send in troops. We also get official confirmation that the King will go to Washington at the end of the month and the Prince of Wales will be there in June for the World Cup. To say there is a reticent attitude to the Kings trip with so much anti-Brit sentiment in the MAGA world would be an understatement. Let's hope those early morning tweets remain civil. This sums up the mood pretty well :https://youtu.be/qfl4RqTo9Ls?t=59

Up here we've reached that  'flip a switch ' time of year when we move from being a small quiet university town to a busy golfing centre. From the number of cars with English registrations filling the parking spaces I'd warrant that  a lot of folk have decided to holiday at home rather than venture abroad. You can spot visitors cars because Scottish ones have a number plate that begins with the letter 'S'. Thanks to the influx it is now impossible to find a parking spot between ten thirty in the morning and four in the afternoon.

Students are enjoying the sunshine and are out having their morning bacon rolls . They're breakfasting before the dustmen have started their rounds. The students are of course oblivious to the wheely bins and trash sacks scattered around them. The forecast calls for rain this afternoon so people are enjoying the fresh air while they can.

The bus tour that leaves Edinburgh at seven arrives outside chapel to disgorge its warmly clad passengers. Today it has brought a mix  of French, Spanish, and Italian visitors who do some cursory sightseeing before heading off towards Starbucks and its washrooms. The practicalities of tourism. They will wander down to the Royal and Ancient to take some photos and then board the bus to head on to Scone Palace.

Student golfers are also out and about. One of the bonuses of being a student here is access to the sacred turf. The starter tells four lads to 'get a move on'. They rush to tie up the laces on their golf shoes. One of them discovers tying shoe laces under the watchful eye of the Old Course starter is not as easy as you might think.

We go to the new cafe that has opened up above the World Golf Museum. Off to one side photographers are taking snaps of the new dinner offerings. A group of three publicists arrange the food and check the lighting. We sit at the far end and  opt for two decaf Americanos. ' Last of the big time spenders ' says the waiter with a laugh.

The breakfast menu seems targeted at an American audience :https://www.claretsstandrews.com/documents/view.php?documentID=1 

After 50 years this is open to the Sao Paolo public :https://www.aberto.art/en

A new addition to the Miami skyline . Very much of the times. All the people in the architects video look similar in a non-diverse sort of way. The number of folks in black tie is impressive. I'd never really associated humid Miami with formality :https://www.trumplibrary.org/

Who knew that milk had become political ? :https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/03/30/raw-milk-myth-wake-up-call/

More Norwegian research :https://www.sciencenorway.no/culture-language-neuroscience/the-weirdest-brain-hack-on-earth-mastering-two-grammars-at-once/2639521

Pre-Easter calm.

Town is quiet. There's no sign yet of the Easter crowds that will soon descend on the place. The sky is bright but the piercing Northerly wind might be putting the visitors off. We say good morning to the lady with the Pomeranian and Archie the arthritic labrador and his owner. Posters are going up detailing Easter events. The Baptists will be holding a sunrise service in the anatomy school car park while the Presbyterians will be gathering to watch the dawn from the ruins of the old 6th century chapel on the cliffs. Last year they were joined by a group of Catholic conservatives carrying a  large wooden cross and praying for the restoration of the Latin Mass. This was an 'unusual' comingling of religious beliefs.

We stop off at the doctors for our tetanus and typhoid booster shots. Hardly what we'll need in the Four Seasons in Shanghai but the doctor reassuringly says you can never be too careful. She then adds ' particularly at your age '.  Angus chooses to ignore this. Recently I've noticed that shop assistants have started to ask ' Can I help you' in a tone of voice that hints that I exude an air of mild befuddlement . 'The Font' thinks that with a recession on the way they're just trying to be helpful and  drum up sales. Angus prefers the old days when the local shop assistants used to studiously ignore you.

Back at The last wee house before Denmark there's a small fishing boat sailing slowly along the coast. The boat is right on the sudden fault line where  the deep water ends and a line of razor sharp rocks soar 60 feet up from the deep. A dangerous place and usually only the cormorants venture there . Let's hope the skipper knows what he's doing.

Not a soul to be seen down by the harbour. 

Five new houses are being built on a plot of land within the medieval priory walls. How they ever got planning permission is one of those mysteries that doesn't bear  thinking about.  The builders have taken up a dozen parking spaces to store their materials and tools. Removing parking spots is just what's needed ahead of a busy weekend.

The fancy clothing store has a new window display.  It has something of the '1930's' to it.

Soon, possibly very soon, the calm will evaporate as the first waves of day trippers , golfers and Airbnbers arrive.

Heaven. Just driving along :https://x.com/Arteymas_/status/2038181186871116032

Bones  :https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/when-are-bones-no-longer-a-person

Silicon valley :https://www.goldsea.com/article_details/how-the-ai-race-is-changing-silicon-valley-demographics

The precariat

Radio Scotland explores the impact of the Gulf war on the 'precariat'. This is the first time I've heard this word used in every day speech. It's usually confined to dry economic analysis. The radio also tells us peace talks have taken place over the weekend but that neither the Americans or Iranians were there. The radio says they should more correctly be described as 'talks about talks'.

The run-up to Easter. The local cab drivers are already taking youngsters down to Edinburgh airport. It's a regular teaching week but I'd reckon that attendance at lectures will fall off sharply after Wednesday. $80 flights from Edinburgh to Spanish and Italian sun spots are just too good to miss. We overhear two American girls ahead of us in Starbucks say they've got return flights to Paris for $45.  They're thinking of 'winging it' on hotel rooms. 'The Font' wonders if they know that Paris at Easter is not an unknown travel concept.

Here the farmers daughter is expected to return from Oxford on Wednesday. Her boyfriend from Jackson Hole will be given the royal treatment. The guest room has been cleaned and the dogs are forbidden from going in there for their afternoon nap on the bed. We hope the lad hasn't had a sheltered upbringing and is prepared for the intimacy of life with two Jack Russells. The price of diesel is likely to dominate the dinner table conversation at the farmhouse so let's hope he's also prepared for that. 

This morning the bakers fudge doughnuts are decorated with sprinkles. A small Easter touch.

The gulls are much friskier than they were. It's mating season. Give it a month or two and the town will resound to the cacophonous sound of hungry chicks. There is little that can compare with the concrete shredding sound of hungry seagull chicks.

We pick up some fritillaries from the botanic garden. The garden at The last wee house before Denmark gets pummeled by the wind from the sea. Anything more than eighteen inches tall struggles to survive. We're hoping the fritillaries will prove to be robust enough to weather our coastal conditions.

A poster in the window of a house near the theatre. Evening lectures are still advertised in the old fashioned way. There are always at least four things on every night. This is the attraction of a small and remote university town.

Happy companions :https://x.com/HeritageMatterz/status/2037878885799395533

The oldest chocolatier in France is 265 years old - and still going from strength to strength :https://www.lameredefamille.com/

Some insights into Argentinian  beef rearing :https://traveldeeper.co/culture-food/the-real-state-of-beef-in-argentina/

Modern Ukranian architecture with amazing thatch roof :https://www.yod.group/projects/design-project-guesthouse-tb7wa-wbck2

An insight :https://x.com/factpostnews/status/2037647438597521898