On dry land.

The post voyage inner ear motion has eased and life on dry land has fallen into its welcome routines. The villagers have noted our return. " It's good to see lights on in the old house " says the farmer as we pass the potato sheds. He reminds us of the upcoming St Andrews night village get together and adds " You mentioned you might have some spare wine ". I confirm that we do. We are both going on the wagon for four weeks after our bibulous tour of Norways coast. An exception will be made for St Andrews day.

Attention in these parts is now turning to Christmas. Brussel Sprouts are stacked up on the wall outside the farm shop.

The weather is beautiful. Cold but sunny. The cloud cover over Norway was so thick we didn't so much as see a patch of blue sky - let alone the Northern Lights - for twelve full days. The local council has gritted the roads and pavements but so far the snow has kept well clear of St Andrews. This has pleased the local golfers. One of the surprises of the trip was how slippery the roads and quaysides were in Norwegian towns. Perhaps they take the view that there's no point in doing anything during blizzard season ? We noticed three passengers on the boat with their arms in casts after sudden falls.

The fountain by the ice cream shop has now been dismantled and taken away to a workshop for renovation.

We missed a group of new professors in the International Relations Department giving their inaugural lectures. These events are always interesting and taken very seriously by students and towns folk.

American wine makes an appearance in the windows of the local wine store. There are enough American immigrants to make the 'Thanksgiving' demographic that's worth selling to. We're surprised at how much a bottle of Screaming Eagle costs.

Catch-up reading :

Ancient medicine. Colchicine :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/the-three-thousand-year-journey-of

Reading widely :https://kamilkazani.substack.com/p/read-widely-not-deeply

Aphantasia :https://www.slowboring.com/p/i-dont-see-images-in-my-mind-and

'The Font' found this too slow going but I enjoyed it :https://danieldrezner.substack.com/p/the-21st-century-destiny-of-the-republic

I don't always agree with this man but in this case I do :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/this-deal-is-trumps-it-has-always

That moment when Brits in DC want to stand for God Save the King :https://youtu.be/XhB0gEwAaR0?t=6683