This morning there's warship moored in the bay. We're never sure why the Navy uses this quiet spot as an anchorage. The treasurer of the village 'road safety' committee says he saw a group of Marines practising landing from Zodiacs on the rocks down by the heron pond. If true ( and it has to be said that the treasurer is an 82 year old gentleman with eyesight to match ) then this is the most exciting thing that's happened around here in decades. Angus thinks it more likely that he's seen lobster fishermen retrieving their creels. This thought is not voiced.
Another of the years invisible but inviolable routines underway. The Turkish barber is open early. There's a queue that stretches out of the front door and half way to the butchers. The six barbers chairs are already full. This is the time of year when mothers drag unwilling pre-teen male offspring off for their seasonal short back and sides. " Yer granny's coming and I'll no have ye looking like a tramp". The boys manage to have that glum, long suffering, look that tells you that in their eyes not everything about Christmas is wonderful.
The church looking very spruce. A gentleman in a festive wooly cardigan is lighting the candles by the altar . He tells us that BBC Scotlands Christmas Eve Watch night service is being broadcast from here. It is also, he goes on to say , the winter solstice which will occur at 9:21 am exactly. After that the days start getting longer and brighter.
'The Font' picks this up from the bookshop. It has been highly recommended although the story of Handels Messiah doesn't sound the most enthralling of reads.
2 comments:
How exciting for the church and its keepers! The Handel book looks interesting, so I tried to buy it as a last-minute gift for my husband, but the only thing that would arrive in time is the large-print version, and I am not sure how he would take that.
All those wonderful cheeses to try - how lucky you are to have such a fabulous shop close by. I should be popping in every day to try a sliver or two.
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