A brother in Scotland calls and comments on the number of London folk filling the Oban ferries and escaping to rented accommodation on Scottish islands. A rather fancy Audi RS8 driven by a City lawyer and his wife looking a little out of place among the lobster creels. What will happen if they get sick ? Hospitals in the far north are scarcer than in Kensington and Chelsea. Here in the village a young man in orange overalls goes along the lane pushing a rotavator. He's followed by twenty riders from the horse farm cantering through the village on a start of day outing. How very medieval that seems . A tractor goes along the lane and then comes back. The German billionaires wife heads off in a 1953 silver drophead Mercedes with a red interior.
Now the ground is dry(ish) dog and owner walk past the church and down the hill towards the Holy Well. The better part of six months since we've been here. Sophie seems to know where we're going without being told.
Along the path there's a couple of places where the water bubbles through the clay and makes walking slippery. Sophie employs 4 paw drive while her master follows along behind a little more gingerly.
At the foot of the hill, where things dry out , a sprint across country towards the well. Sophie races ahead. This means that if she finds a dead shrew she can swallow it by the time her grumpy companion catches up and can say ' No ! '
On our way home she disappears into the furrows made by the old cart wheels. How exciting is that ?
Another quiet Monday morning in a part of the world where you'd have thought things couldn't get any quieter. We stand and watch a horse in a field.
This is an interesting insight into the Bro Wage Premium : https://www.perell.com/blog/the-price-of-discipline
And if you want to know how a good company manages in this environment click on and read this twitter feed : https://twitter.com/chetanp/status/1241090625530769408
And I can't help but feel that this is the way out of this mess ---- in four or five months. The risk / reward trade off makes sense : https://www.mercatus.org/publications/covid-19/accelerating-availability-vaccine-candidates-covid-19
A lot of links today but 'The Font' read this over breakfast :
https://cookerymonster.com/2020/03/21/what-to-do-when-you-cant-just-pick-up-a-rotisserie-chicken-on-the-way-home-from-work/
18 comments:
Thanks for taking us along on such an enjoyable walk with Sophie. I realised last week in Nottinghamshire that sodden clay soil characteristic of the English Midlands sticks to Bertie's furs more persistently than the black peaty material we more often encounter in Scotland! Over at Torridon for a long planned meeting with a builder, I took Bertie for an exhilarating walk in the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve and noted six camper vans in the car park. Most unusual for before Easter. But on the mountain trail we only encountered one other couple, safely socially-distanced across a frozen loch an. Cheers! Gail.
Sophie is clearly enjoying social distancing. Your comment on international travel is interesting, as I am just about to apply for a new ESTA for my husband - it's the first time in a long time when I actually have no idea when we might be going anywhere.
Good to know you're in the fresh air of Torridon. Guess the biggest downside is the long haul to the shops ? Bertie might disagree. Good idea to be talking to the builder. Something in the air that hints that international travel will be on hold for a year to 18 months. Maybe it's just our PM saying that everything should be fine in 12 weeks or so that makes me suspicious. Stay safe !
Having cancelled trips in April and May we're now beginning to look at the epidemiology and wonder whether the September trip is going to be doable. Can see both flight and hotels in full swing just as a second wave appears with the whole thing starting over again. Not so much pessimism in our outlook as not wanting to be one of those folks you read about scrambling for the last flight out.
Hari OM
Angus, as I drove over from Edinburgh to Dunoon, on the stretch along the Clyde, I saw several campervans and did wonder, as did Gail, at the early holiday-making. Then learned in the evening that Calmac were going to be shutting down service to anyone other than island residents due to the influx!!! Apparently at Fort William had to turn 30 away... (that's a link in return for your interesting ones!) YAM xx
I would not book any trips for 2020. Just hang out and see how this plays out.
New Zealand bars, restaurants, shops and schools will close on Tuesday and we are into full lockdown on weds at lunchtime, which I think is the best idea to protect everyone. Unfortunately my work at the hospital will keep me busy, and we hope these measures will flatten our curve and stop the infection rates.
Stay safe.
Julie
I hope the Londoners are not importing their silent but violent contamination. This article does a good job of showing how many "true" (detected AND undetected) cases there might be: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
Another interesting article about people fleeing to Scottish islands: https://www.1843magazine.com/journeys/notes-from-a-small-island-the-syrian-refugees-who-went-to-bute
Not sure whether I trust Mercatus, which was founded and funded by the Kochs, hardly supporters of truth.
The situation in Scotland and other rural areas is disgusting. The camper vans have emptied the small local shops and will submerge scant medical services. They should be ashamed (but I daresay are not).
My business (independent tourist guide) is suspended for the foreseeable future. I don't think there'll be much doing even into the autumn. Meantime, off to dig the garden!
Sophie is a very lucky girl. Inca, and her human, wish they could join you both on your morning walk. So much more interesting than the 50 metres we're allowed to go! No way will Inca find any "tasty" forbidden morsels in that distance - it's only as far as next door's gate!
Agree with you on Mercatus but an indication of the size and scope of the search underway for a vaccine ... together with the trade offs. In some respects a new Manhattan project that needs to be delivered quickly with all the resources of the state made available.
Not just the camper vans but the summer houses that have been let out for three months while the Knightsbridge folk decamp to less densely populated regions. The fancy convertibles an unusual sight in the Hebridean farming communities. You can be sure the price of fresh fish at the quayside is being suitably adjusted for the incomers !
Sophie is now sleeping from nine until six every night. She's so worn out she's in exactly the same spot in the morning as she was when she fell asleep !
We have the same thoughts and are wondering if our postponed springtime trip to Scotland will be doable in September due to a potential second wave. It's already rebooked, but we may need to shift it again. Made a quick run to an elderly family member yesterday to deliver needed supplies and found the majority of vehicles on the road were "out of state" plates. No doubt escaping the more heavily populated (and infected) areas 100 miles south. So much for sheltering in place. And it's quite unwise actually as we have the same issues here regarding hospitals and medical services. The further north one travels the scarcity of medical care increases.
This morning we only saw 4 regular cars and a few deer on our walk.
Friends in the Highlands are stunned at the number of people who seem to be viewing this as a prime time for a holiday. Ignorance? Denial? It's truly stunning.
I seem to remember that VERY remote cottage you showed, perhaps it has been rented.
After a week or so of Hebridean March weather they may be rethinking. Being quarantined at home in London with kids is one thing. Being quarantined on an island with dodgy internet is another.
For sure and at peak summer prices +20%. What they'll do for food is another matter.
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