Canine Alcatraz.

 

No prizes for guessing who is at the front door at first light. The muddy paws tell me she's already been up and about for some time.

The farmers belief that he had turned his garden into an escape proof canine version of  Alcatraz has proven to be woefully optimistic ... and wrong.

The sun rising as we walk along the shore. 6,000 steps this morning. In winter the wind makes these walks hard going. On days like this it's a joy. It's now only six weeks before we head off on our cruise of Japan and Korea.  We decide that while onboard we shall pretend that we don't follow what's going on in Washington .'Far too complicated for simple country folk like us'.  Better to be considered stupid uninformed than have tense dinner conversations. It will be interesting to see how our 34 Palo Alto ship mates discuss domestic matters amongst themselves. Will they follow the same approach ? I'd have to admit this caused me to bite my lip this morning :https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/27/nation/rising-border-tensions-threaten-library-straddling-vermont-quebec-line/

We stop off to pick up some Baklava from the Lebanese cafe by the Medieval History Department. It's supposed to be good but I wonder if it's anywhere near as good as the Baklava sold by the Algerian bakers in Toulouse. There again a few years ago who would have imagined that you could buy freshly baked Baklava anywhere in Scotland ? The cafe also serves Mahalabia which we're also told is worth trying. I shall report on the Baklava tomorrow.

We can get seats at the little cafe by the church and sit in the weak sunshine waiting for our coffees to arrive. The waitress tells us that this week is a mid-semester break for the students. Many of them have gone home or headed off to Europe on vacation which explains why town is so quiet. She also tells us that exams start in eight weeks and term finishes in ten. The year started quickly and seems to be picking up its pace.

This mornings car radio music :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X52lmeBWvM

Fitness. Non-smokers are four times more likely to pass than smokers :https://thedebrief.org/the-science-of-becoming-an-elite-special-forces-solider-new-study-reveals-what-it-takes-to-make-the-cut/

Interesting but I'm glad someone else tried it :https://www.vox.com/even-better/401003/circadian-rhythm-sleep-light-lynne-peeples-inner-clock

I can now listen to people talk about Covid with a degree of detachment. This inteview is worth listening to. Eric Topol who works at the Salk Institute was a Godsend during those early days of 2020 :https://erictopol.substack.com/p/carl-zimmer-air-borne-and-the-big