" Something has snapped ".

Yesterday afternoon had a mix of heavy rain, fog and low cloud. This is an unlikely meteorological mix akin to being wrapped in a cold grey blanket of murk. This morning the weather is altogether more welcoming. 

The same can't be said about the news.  " Something has snapped " says the BBC breakfast broadcast reporting on the letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister that is read out word for word on air. I don't know about you but although it's only January 19th  it feels as though we've already had enough news to keep us occupied for the rest of the year.

The crows ( or more correctly rooks ) are still using the fields around the wee house as their winter nesting spot. The birds have got used to our presence and most  have determined that we're not a threat.  A few flutter, irritatedly, skywards as we approach but the majority continue to feed amid the stubble in the barley field.

The pizza restaurant facing the butcher has closed down for all of January. A pile of Christmas decorations in the window hint at a sudden " I'll take care of it when we get back "closing of the door and turning of the lock.

The cathedral is open again but the old gravestones have been cordoned off by some zealous health and safety official. Seems the recent frosts have caused ground heave which has led to some of them falling over. An ancient by-law ( of which St Andrews seems to have many )  means that relatives must be contacted before remedial work to straighten them can take place. As many of the tombstones are well over 200 years old this is unlikely to be an easy  task. The groundsman also tells us that they've also discovered mould in the cathedral shop. Unsure how to respond we commiserate. 

At the spot where the shrine of St.Andrew once stood we stop to enjoy the sunshine. No one seems to know what happened to the Saints relics after the cathedral was ransacked by a religious mob in June 1559. The cardinal at the time must have sensed that trouble was afoot and might have packed them off to Rome or Paris ahead of time. If so no one has ever admitted seeing them again. The same groundsman who told us about the mould in the shop tells us the Catholic cathedral in Edinburgh was gifted part of the saints skull by a Pope in the 1990's. We are left to ponder how quickly the sureties of an age can change. 

The student sports teams are back for 'training' week. One of the neighbouring houses in town  is let out to eight lads in the rugby first XV.  They are a 'lively' bunch but thankfully the house is far enough away for us ( or the Texan tenants ) not to hear them. This morning as we pass we see an Everest of beer cans piled high in their front window. A sure sign of their new semester priorities. We watch the youngsters heading off to the sports centre. They run down the centre of the road kicking a rugby ball and laughing as they go. They are oblivious to the fact that this is a main road. Classes start again on the 26th which allows them a week to further refine their beer drinking skills.

A blast from the past that ( we're told ) is exceedingly well made. Perhaps the fact he was dying from cancer and didn't tell the film makers somehow elevates and enhances the story ? :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVx74C-RGDw

Not all Spanish is the same :https://x.com/hispanicnomad/status/2012495753122361697

The sins of the fathers :https://www.france24.com/en/environment/20250607-searching-radioactive-waste-depths-atlantic-france-nuclear

Did you read this ? :https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/16/civil-war-university-of-austin-bari-weiss-00729688  I didn't know it was so small.  Can there really be only 100 students ? 'The Font' receives this from the young mother who headed back to Austin for her husbands work. I found it interesting in an unexciting  university administrator sort of way :https://arnoldkling.substack.com/p/corporate-soap-opera-at-uatx

Scottish television is aimed at a local audience with a low stress threshold. It is a sure antidote for the daily news programmes. Many years ago I used to take one of these ferries to the mainland ... and school. Nothing has changed :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxg04MsWmmM