Friday afternoon. The days are getting longer now. It's daylight ( just ) at five. The mercury has slumped to well below freezing. Not Iowa cold but cold enough. On the far side of the estuary the snow on the hilltops is glowing romantically in the setting sun. I would walk down to the coast to enjoy the sunset but the central heating decides to stop working. Although it's the end of the work day the plumber is called. To my surprise he hasn't gone home yet. Even more surprisingly he promises to come out straight away. Half an hour later he's here and half an hour after that he's replaced a faulty part and is gone. What are the chances of that ?
'The Font' takes the Flying Scotsman from Kings Cross and changes at Edinburgh onto one of ScotRails venerable 125's. Both trains are full and run on time. Hot meals are available on the Flying Scotsman and , rather more prosaically, bacon baps on ScotRail. Wine is served on the London train but all forms of alcohol are banned on the Scottish one. At the local station the cab rank has a queue that stretches all along the side of the station. That start of term ritual - scores of returning students and all the cabs have gone. Three girls from London who have been in the same carriage as 'The Font' are offered a lift into town. Each of them has two wheelie cases so loading up the back of the Volvo is a question of fitting a quart into a pint pot. They are dropped at their hall of residence .
Another substack gem :https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/economic-ornithology
A dogs expensive meal :https://econlife.com/2024/01/chewed-up-money/
Spending time outside in winter :https://www.insidehook.com/wellness/spending-time-outside-winter
9 comments:
Hari Om
Excellent reading with the morning cuppa, ta. Bravo on the heating engineer service...YAM xxx
The metal cow must raise a few smiles. I'm sure the town welcomes the return of so much youth - and the business they bring, of course.
No danger of this owner of a hyperactive wire fox terrier not spending time outside every day, whatever the weather. An Arctic blast is forecast for this weekend, so well done that plumber.
It's good to know that some things in student life have not changed since the 1970s. Namely the post-pub curry ritual. Do the male students still compete as to who can tolerate the hottest vindaloo?
Cheers! Gail.
Thank you for returning the kindness of the plumber, by helping out the students waiting in the cold. Kindness out, comes back.
Wonderful links today, you always find something thought-provoking. In this case, I was reminded how much I loved my two years living up on the New York/Canadian border while in college. It was cold there, even by St. Andrews standards, I believe - the water on one's eyeballs would often freeze and crackle when you blinked. But it was almost always clear and dry in the winter, with giant walls of snow along the walkways and an occasional glimpse of the Aurora.
I had an air conditioner man come out on the hottest day of last summer when my A/C stopped. He came out on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON! I was so grateful.
There is a woman on YouTube who posts videos of her life in Svalbard. She loves it there - especially the arctic winter. Her name is Cecelia, and her dog's name is Grim :)
The videos are beautiful and fascinating. Especially for this California girl.
https://youtu.be/cgZCC4uf-RY?si=aEKYLCmtIv4uXnCJ
Rottrover - You've got to love a dog called Grim !
A fun daily comic strip by Mike Peters features a mischievous dog named Grimm. It's called Mother Goose and Grimm. Does the extra m make him less grim?
Grimm's name could be spelled with 2 m's. I only watch videos!
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