A cloudy Tuesday morning. There's some sea fog lingering in the coves. We spot a woman flat on her back on the beach. What can she be doing ? Certainly not sunbathing. We stop to see if we should go and check but she's breathing and listening to music on her ear pods so we can relax. Probably just a little restorative meditation after a dip in the North Sea.
Peak golfer time. The first tee of the Old Course already busy. It's a bubbly crowd this morning . No such thing as jet lag here. A foursome from Wichita waiting to tee off greet a group from Alexandria on the back stretch. There is much whoopin' and hollerin'. For some the excitement of playing the Old Course can't be bottled up. The caddies shuffle their feet. They've seen it all before.
Photos are being taken. Stewards are reminding some of the wannabe players that the dress code requires that shorts must reach the knee. Some of the golfers are here two hours before their allocated time. They soak in the atmosphere and talk to other groups of golfers as if they're long lost friends. Todays non-golfing topic of conversation is JD Vance. Scots golfers tend to wear blue or black. Visiting golfers opt for more strident colours.
The golf course may have become the 51st state but the rest of the town has been taken over by Chinese tourists.
Last week the town was full of Italians. The week before it was inundated with Spanish. Now it's the Chinese. What must they think of a small quiet Scottish town with a beach, a golf course, some ruins and not much else ? In an hour they'll be back on their coach and heading off to the Highlands for lunch. In a town of 16,000 people ( many of whom are on holiday ) the ebb and flow of tourists is always a point of interest. This morning a lady tour guide is singing the Skye Boat song in Mandarin to her charges. This is something you don't hear often.
3 comments:
No golfer in Aberdeen would be needing a reminder about shorts length these past few chilly days, even if the city's four municipal courses had a dress code, which I doubt.
Can't help wondering what the translation of the Mandarin version of the Skye Boat Song conveys of the original words and sentiment.
I do hope the contingent from Alexandria (Virginia) had some degree of dignity - but I wouldn't bet on it. I have lived in Alexandria for 14.5 years.
JD Vance, he deeply understands the disaffected working class who feel angry at being left behind over the last 40 years. In other words he understands a critical part of the Trump voters. His book was controversial and well written.
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