Monday, November 14, 2022

Two looks.

 

Sophie starts her day with a trip to the beach to check on the seals. They are all out at sea snacking on the shoals of fish swimming in the warm estuary waters.  We have the place to ourselves bar an audience of cormorants, gulls and larks .


Sophie has two looks. The head into the wind look .....


.... and the wind behind her look. Head on the wind has an aerodynamic effect. Blowing from behind it fluffs up her fur. This morning both  are in play. We head down the track into the wind and return with it behind us. 


Monday morning in town is quiet. There's a hint of a sea mist blowing in. We go to the new cafe where the coffee is excellent. Sophie gets a piece of shortbread from the young lady behind the counter. I'm not sure whether a sugar rush is what the PONette needs at this time in the morning but it's been swallowed before anything can be said.  Sophie has a look on her face that says shortbread is an acceptable substitute for Jaffa Cakes and that she's more than willing to try it  a second time.  Maybe later in the week we will give the croissants one more try. 


You'd think that Armistice Day commemorations would be a poorly attended civic duty. Not a bit of it. Perhaps it's the Ukrainian war but the numbers of this years attendees was  higher, and younger, than would have been the case twenty years ago. This morning, despite the overnight wind,  the wreaths are still neatly in place. The war memorial was recently renovated. While putting in new foundations they came across fourteen ancient burials. The ensuing archaeological research added a year to the timetable .



7 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

We are now looking forward to Sophie modelling the cross wind style.
Gail attended a concert (Schubert, Hayden, McLeod, Mozart) at the Aberdeen Music Hall last night and it opened with a request from the conductor to "please be upstanding for the Ukrainian national anthem". Rather moving.

Coppa's girl said...

Well, not a bad start to Sophie's week. The shortbread is something of a let-down substitute for Jaffa cakes, but better than nothing!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Somehow it seems fitting that burials were discovered beneath the memorial... though one wonders at the original installation what was made of them? Were the foundations deeper this time... oh questions, questions... YAM xx

Lisa in France said...

I think you are right - the Ukrainian war has had such an impact on my perceptions regarding war. I don't remember seeing the war memorials on my previous visits to France, but this past summer I noticed them in every village, and your blog posts over the years helped me understand the sacrifice they represent.

Travel said...

A tailwind definitely looks better.

waterdog said...

The Ukrainian war has sharpened everyone’s senses and the notion that freedom is to be appreciated daily.
Isn’t it difficult walking on that craggy beach surface in the first photo…
JoAnn in Maryland

Melinda from Ontario said...

It touched me to see the young man strolling about reading the inscriptions on the war memorial. I think the war in Ukraine has activated a lot of emotions in young men and women of a certain age.