Eristic.

The BBC certainly isn't dumbing down. This morning I learn a new word - Eristic. It describes those who think they're right even when they're demonstrably wrong. It's used in a news segment covering Oman and South Korea. The word 'incoherent' is also used. Natalie Harp is mentioned as is Rodney Cook. This is the first time I've ever heard anything about either of them.

A professor in the village has taken his 18 year old son off to a world famous Italian lake hotel on a long weekend golfing trip. One of those father-son bonding experiences before the youngster heads off to university. It was a disaster. The hotel was full of 'strange' people who sat around the pool taking selfies , at night  most of the couples in the dining room wouldn't talk to each other but would have long conversations on their mobile phones with the volume turned up,  the grass on the golf course was burnt to a crisp and the air conditioning worked fitfully. The food was a foreigners idea of what Italian food should be at prices that no Italian would pay. A good time was not had by all. He wonders if Mediterranean summers are just getting too hot. To make matters worse the new European digital immigration system was a nightmare. Three and a half hours queueing for entry in the heat of Milan airport was memorable but not in a good way.

The local farmers all leave a wide strip of unploughed wilderness at the field edges. The butterflies and bees make good use if it. So too do scores of young starlings who are learning to fly.  Anyone coming down the farm track has to slow their car down to the pace of a flying starling with 'L' plates. There are many more starlings than usual this morning which may signal that the local sparrow hawk has moved onto pastures new.

Peggy , the Dandy with a summer buzz cut, emits a loud howl as she sees us heading towards her on the golf course path. Peggy also greets every passing jogger in this way. Her two elder sisters walk along behind in silence. 

The TESCO supermarket has been closed for six weeks. It was due to open today but some of the new chiller display units have been delayed at customs. The new date for opening is September 6th just in time for the arrival of the incoming freshers. 

Yesterdays observation by our lawyer that there's been a huge increase in young American professional families wanting to come and live here is borne out by the 'Donnie Scotland' headline in a local paper. 

Back in the village the last of the hay is being bailed and hauled off for storage. Autumn is drawing close.

Social media bans :https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2026/studying-the-social-media-ban-under-sixteens-australia

Meat allergy:https://www.sciencenorway.no/allergy-arachnids-food/meat-allergy-is-becoming-more-common-ticks-are-being-blamed/2697910

Nothing new under the sun:https://theconversation.com/how-a-19th-century-estate-agent-offered-3d-property-walkthroughs-before-the-dawn-of-the-photography-age-289732

Late summer light.

There comes a time in the late summer when the shadows lengthen and the light around here becomes sharper and more intense. This must be  something to do with shifts in the atmosphere as cold dry arctic air starts to slowly drift down towards us. We're now into that time of year . The change in the light can make even the humdrum look electric. Today the northern sunrise is making the dull dry grass that lines the field boundaries glow like an art installation . 

This change in the light will probably go unnoticed by the village youngsters who are getting ready for the new school term. The funereal looks on their faces tells us the summer holidays have gone by in a flash. The teenagers kick off their new term on Wednesday morning.

Outside the golf club we meet our Edinburgh solicitor. I say he's our solicitor but the firm of lawyers we've used forever has been taken over and amalgamated into a large international 'practice' as their Scottish outpost. As a consequence he's become rather too grand for us. The takeover supposedly enables us to access a 'wider variety of services' but our needs tend to be rather prosaic and corporate restructurings and access to an international network of offices across Asia and the Gulf aren't high on our list of priorities. 

He tells us that the number of Americans wanting to come and live in Scotland has doubled in the last year. Obtaining residency permits is keeping him very busy and, from the looks of his large Mercedes SUV, well remunerated. I think he said nearly 10,000 American families had already applied for Scottish residency this year but it could have been 20,000. We will doubtless bump into him again and when we do I'll ask what the numbers are. He also says that cold weather tourism is indeed a thing. His Edinburgh client base of hotels have never been busier. Tourists that used to go to London for a week are now heading north for some of the time. Volumes are up 15% over last year which is, seemingly, unheard of. 2027 is shaping up to see similar growth with early bookings from Spain and Italy surging.

The cheeky coasters showing a Scotsman displaying his backside have all sold. The souvenir shop has replaced them in its window with tins of shortbread. Westies and Highland Cows are big signifiers of Scotland alongside Loch Ness monsters and stern men in bearskins playing bagpipes.

We are taking a course on AI. Or, to be more precise,'The Font' thinks we need to keep abreast of changes in technology and has signed up to one of those university courses that are designed to keep the towns retired folk engaged . Take enough courses and we could be awarded an M. Litt.

I go to pick up some books that are set texts. The young lady at the bookstore says ' They'll make for interesting reading '. I have yet to be convinced so say nothing.

The course textbook ( I never thought I'd ever have to utter those awful words again ) is a large volume that has the dimensions and weight to turn it into an offensive weapon. It is, I see, already on its fourth edition. We shall attend our first lecture this week. I'll wager the average age will be 65.

Haggis is banned in the US. A summary of things you can't buy in  America :https://notnottalmud.substack.com/p/things-you-cant-buy-in-the-usa-and

Dither until you starve :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/buridans-ass

An intriguing insight into Chinese medicine :https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02448-x

52C during the day, 39C at night. Not even being on an aircraft carrier can keep you cool in temperatures like this :https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2088954923681542571

Schools go back this week.

I'm in the back garden dead heading the climbing roses when I hear the geese. At first I think they're going to fly along the coast but the sound draws closer as they dog leg over the rock stack before heading right over the house. They're low. In fact they're so low I can see their eyes. I'd always assumed goose honks were identical but each one has its own pitch and timbre. As they pass I can feel the air pressure change from the flapping of their wings. This is as primeval a sensation as you can get.

The wheat is harvested and bailed. The farmer and youngest son have now made a start on cutting the potato stems down to ground level. Tomorrow, with the stalks removed, they'll make a start on digging up the potatoes. Daughter is still in Jackson Hole with the tall American boy but is due back mid-week to start law school. The boys family own a ski resort. This to the famers Presbyterian ears sounds vaguely disreputable and on a par with owning an opium den. " What sort of business is that ?"  I'd hazard a guess that he'd find any suitors to be questionable but keep this thought to myself. He is however in a good mood. The price for the farmers wheat and potatoes are the best he's ever got and more than justify the cost of the new combine harvester. Crop yields down south have been hit by the arid conditions and prices for Scottish produce has risen sharply.

11C this morning. A high of 18C forecast for this afternoon. Heavy rain is expected in time for dinner. The London news broadcast tells us the national emergency service sent out a text warning everyone in Britain of the danger of wild fires. This is a very London centric view. Everyone in England and Wales got the emergency alert. In a wet and rainy Scotland we didn't.

A young gull wanders along the cobbles looking for food. It stops and peers plaintively at us in the hope we've brought it breakfast.

The town hotels are full of southerner families enjoying the last two weeks of the English school holidays. Here in Scotland the schools go back tomorrow . If your looking for signs that the year is racing on look no further.

Impressions of a Chinese tourist in Washington :https://themandarinfrontier.substack.com/p/three-visions-of-beijing-epliogue

Dining in Florence : https://emikodavies.substack.com/p/is-overtourism-killing-florences

Painting in Sardinia :https://corkscrewnomad.substack.com/p/watercolor-trip-through-sardinia

Lobster fishermen and a remarkable howl.

Here in the UK a Cambridge Professor, who 'amplified' his CV, has taken his life. There's something rather tragic and unedifying in the public hounding of a deeply troubled figure. It's a sad story where entitlement and racism mix and neither the university nor the media who hounded him come out of it looking good. The BBC breakfast bulletin informs us that there is confusion over claims that Washington wants to annex the Strait of Hormuz and have it become 'American territory'. Is this official policy or just a passing thought ? No one seems to know. Amidst the confusion I shall continue to take the little BMW down to the garage to have its petrol tank filled once a fortnight.

A beautiful calm morning. From the courtyard we can see a small fleet of lobster boats fishing thirty metres offshore where the sea plummets down into the cold, deep volcanic depths. This is where the best lobsters are found but the poor fishermen are forever snagging and losing their creel on the razor sharp rocks. These then wash up on the small beach where the local dogs find their scents intriguing.

Further along the coast towards town this mornings tide is the lowest we've ever seen . Holiday makers will have to walk across a good half mile of sand to reach the water.

By the golf course we meet what we think are three Dandy Dinmonts. Two of them are getting on in years and process slowly and silently. The third, leading from the front , is a younger dog called Peggy. She is far from quiet and every so often emits a fiercesome howl not unlike the Hound of the Baskervilles. It is a quite memorable sound for such a small ( and in Peggys case friendly ) dog. 

The bakers summer strawberry extravaganza seems to be rather less extravagant than it was.

In a neighbouring village  a rather fine Victorian pillar box. There can't be many of these old ones left. In fact there can't be many post boxes left at all. Letter delivery in the village seems to be down to three times a week as part of the latest cost cutting measures. How long before we're down to twice a week ?  The Postman has largely been replaced by couriers . There must be half a dozen courier companies who wend their way into the village every day.

A small clump of harebells happily blooming on the verge down by the village notice board. This must be a sheltered spot as all the others wild flowers down here have been decimated by the leaf stripping wind that blows up from the bay and is channeled along the lane.

Bikes starting to reappear. A few, very few, students are starting to return and get their apartments ready for the new semester which kicks off in three weeks.

An unusual Saturday morning musical choice on local radio :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkYcKfqFNmM

Animal welfare is seemingly better in richer countries :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/will-factory-farming-fix-itself

The modern man :https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/men-also-want-it-all

Climate change :https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/environment/how-do-you-squeeze-climate-change-inside-human-brain

The world fertility rate is falling :https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~jesusfv/Demographics.pdf

" I write poetry too ".

The first flock of geese are spotted heading south down the coast towards Northumberland. They honk loudly as they go. A group of them break away and land on the recently harvested wheat fields and are soon busily gleaning the fallen ears of grain. The swallows that we thought might have headed home, haven't. They are busy doing miraculous feats of airmanship in the barns by the cows field.

The farmers wife has been invisible for the last few days. Babies have been born in the village ( two so far this month and a third on the way ) and well honed neighbourly routines have sprouted like wild flowers after rain. Advice is given, visiting parents entertained, dinners cooked ,shopping bought and elder siblings given lunch and sleep overs. News of the newborns progress is passed on by word of mouth and greeted with delight. In a small farming village there is an entrenched feeling that the arrival of new lives pressages continuity. It was exactly the same in the French village. All is well with the world...or at least this small part of it.

With the fun fair gone the shopping street is once again looking recognizable.

The newly restored fountain has sustained some damage to its concrete balustrade. It could have been worse.

For dinner we go to the new restaurant that's opened up where the old Brewdogs pub used to be. In the space of five weeks its been transformed from somewhere tired and dingy into a bright and modern restaurant. We've delayed going to allow time enough for any teething troubles to subside and for the chef to settle in. There is a queue at the front door which augers well. The food proves to be good, the service efficient and the cost reasonable. It was fun and we shall go again. All of the nights co-diners were fellow townies which I think is a good sign. The owner takes the time to come over for a wee blether with each table. This is good PR . Happy locals are the ones who are likely to turn out  for dinner in February.  At the moment the chef is managing three seatings a night. 

Afterwards we pop into the pub facing the divinity school for a night cap. A local mutt decides Angus is a dog person and is keen for a chat and a tickle.  The place is full of tables of hearty young men in shirts and ties with a few tables of golfers and English tourists interspersed among them. There's a summer rugby school on at the university and scrum halves from all over the country are here to hone their kicking skills. Rugby being a conservative game they've dressed for dinner. Some are wearing jackets that they've grown into and are in the process of growing out of. Others wear 'interview' suits. Haircuts are uniformly short and practical. They eschew wine for the volumetric cost effectiveness of beer . When one of them becomes too boisterous the others silence him with a loud shhh followed by silence and embarrassed laughter. Who'd have thought that 20 year olds have ties - let alone wear them? There are some quietly conservative things about life in Britain that surprise even the British. One young man tells the attractive American student working behind the bar that " I don't only play rugby. I write poetry too ". How's that as a line to break the ice ? Her heart seems unmoved by this  revelation of his inner muse. The group finally finish their beers leaving the rest of us to marvel at their boisterous civility and good naturedness.

Practical advice for dictators :https://fridainsight.substack.com/p/how-to-become-president-for-life

English ideas for hot weather eating:https://theyorkshiregourmet.substack.com/p/appetite-in-the-age-of-heat-addled

Men and women respond differently to drugs :https://www.the-scientist.com/female-brains-wake-up-from-anesthesia-differently-than-male-brains-74843

It was quite literally a different world. The hit song from this day in August 1939 :https://youtu.be/U1NeqzYqgEU?t=98

No eclipse for us.

The first of the bramble pickers are hard at work along the hedgerows. It's a young couple who live in one of the small cottages by the stream. He does the picking while she holds a large oblong Tupperware container into which the brambles are dropped. They seem to be immersed in what they're doing but manage to look up and give us a cheerful ' Good Morning '. We leave them to it. They're out early because it's going to be hot today. 28C expected, which for Scotland is unusual.

Nine curlews fly over us heading south. Eight of them in formation together, the ninth trailing along behind cheeping noisily as it tries to catch up. The birds used to be a common sight but there are fewer every year. Their nesting grounds, to which exact spot they return year after year, are slowly but surely disappearing under the towns ever growing trailer parks. Interestingly, after a recent burst of expansion 20% of all of Scotlands static caravans can be found in a ten minute drive around the town. At what point does the beauty that attracts people get swamped ?

The strawberries are at their peak. The Bulgarian lady who stacks the shelves and takes the money tells me they hope to get another six or seven weeks crop before they shut up shop for the year.

The minutes of the recent community council meeting have appeared on the village notice board . They indicate that life in these golf mad parts has its own dangers.

Last night we went into town to watch the eclipse. It goes without saying that it turned out to be cloudy. Around six thirty a large group of Italian school children appeared on the high ground by the bandstand. It would have been a great place to see events unfold but they soon get bored and head off down to the beach to feed pizza to the seagulls. Italian school children have learnt how to project a world weary aura of ennui. In this regard no other nationality can match them....or come close.

On the golf course the foursomes continued to tee off oblivious to the eclipse and what might .... or in this case might not ... be happening in the heavens above them.

Gershwin for a hot sunny morning :https://youtu.be/xDneycZwUww?t=30

Medicine:https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/future-of-medicine

The rise of the American tourist :https://x.com/arpitrage/status/2086828588058235334?s=46&t=fSypFxt84bBHId-do9r5Ag

Long forgotten memories.

We have the central heating  boiler serviced. It may seem unusual to have this done in August but it means when winter arrives we won't have to worry about anything going wrong. The man arrives at six thirty in the evening and goes an hour later. " All's fine Pal" he says breezily before adding " You needed a new timer ". With that he's off.  I also arrange to have the heating oil topped up to the brim. Who knows what will happen to the price as we head into the first frosts of autumn ?

Wednesday morning . At quarter to six the sound of heavy machinery tells us the farmer has started bringing in the wheat. From the bedroom window a cloud of chaff can be seen slowly but surely heading towards the back garden of the house. Like mad things we rush around closing all the windows.

Red Admirals much in evidence on the flowers today. They seem to be having a good year but nothing like the Cabbage Whites which flutter around in swarms. The lavender bed isn't so much covered in bees as alive with them. In our four summers here this is the best year, by far, for bees. There is something rather reassuring about that.

The night of the lunar eclipse. The Scottish weather remains mercurial so we may, or may not, see it. After a bright start to the day cloud and rain are forecast for the evening. There's probably a 50% chance we'll have some gaps in the clouds. An e-mail from the power company drops into the inbox this morning asking us to be prudent in our use of electricity during the eclipse. The loss of solar power may 'stress the grid '.

The fun fair has ended and this morning the whole caboodle is being packed up. The huge tower that winches youthful customers to the top and then releases them into a stomach churning free fall has been very popular. 

This music is playing from the loud speakers as the last of the rides are disassembled :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU . I haven't heard this since the age of 2 or 3. My father used to sing it to me as we drove around the island in the family Humber Super Snipe.  I always thought there was something ever so slightly sinister about the song ( the furtiveness of the Teddy Bears aroused suspicion )  although it may also have had something to do with my fathers singing style. It is an interesting insight into how auditory inputs  can trigger long forgotten but clarion clear memories.

I cannot imagine any dog being trained to sit through an MRI scan :https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137798

The kids at the second ( and final ) summer school session are heading home. They only seem to have just arrived. At the 2:21 mark there's a cameo appearance of the owners sheepdog that keeps a watchful eye on the youngsters from its position by the summer schools front door. It is the best behaved dog we've ever seen :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBda0sfwPR4

Thoughts on architecture :https://www.bensouthwood.co.uk/p/eight-architecture-myths-busted-by

You could not make this up ! Harry Potter fans triumphant :https://www.nme.com/news/film/harry-potter-fans-succeed-moving-construction-project-avoid-dobby-grave-3961714