Back in a week

Into a fifth year. This song being played a lot this morning. Didn't he look young ?  :https://youtu.be/ZvlMnHizVso?list=RDZvlMnHizVso&t=84

Guys out with metal detectors on the beach. Every so often one of them bends down and digs into the sand with a small spade. What do they expect to find ?

In the churchyard the snowdrops are in full bloom.

We're now off to Portugal for a week. It's a long journey with a slightly too long layover in Heathrow. Rain is forecast in Lisbon so we may pop down to the Azores for a few days in search of sun. Neither of us has ever been there.We'll be back in a week.

A wreath has been laid outside the university chapel.

It marks the spot where Patrick Hamilton was burnt at the stake in 1528 at the age of 24. He was an early follower of Luther.  500 years on and someone still marks the anniversary in one of those ' you're not dead if you're still remembered' traditions. If you ignore the black ribbon the wreath is a cheerful wee thing. To this day new students are taught never  to walk on the letters PH marked out on the cobbles. If they do they'll fail their exams. Not a single one breaks this rule. Tradition can be stifling but sometimes it adds character to a place.

Didn't he look young and carefree then ? :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJBHEDnfGMI  This song being played a lot today

Some reflections four years on :https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/day-1461-of-putins-three-day-war

Thrilling. How France hid its gold :https://x.com/Valen10Francois/status/2018745293777297792

Maintaining a library of old maps :https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-library-of-lost-maps