A kilt will have this effect.

Life in Scotland is reassuringly familiar. It's bright and warm when we set off down the path to the shore but it soon clouds over. The potatoes in the field by the courtyard have shot up in the recent heat and the cheerful poppies are flowering everywhere. Europe has been suffering from a record breaking heatwave but here the temperatures struggle to reach the high teens in the afternoon and fall down to the low teens at night. The light duvet is still welcome.

On our walk down to the beach we meet the farmers wife who provides us with a quick update. The village lads have spent the last couple of days visiting Disney World in Orlando. They have found the Howard Johnsons they've booked into to be the height of luxury. The coffee shop makes ' great burgers '. Repeated visits to Space Mountain indicate that roller coasters appeal to the teenage male in a way few other things can. They are now heading back to Boston on a Greyhound bus to catch the Jet Blue flight back to Edinburgh. The farmers wife is waiting to hear that their change in Atlanta has gone smoothly before making plans to drive down to Edinburgh to pick them up.  It seems the lads have had a great time and avoided ( or at least not mentioned ) all the dangers and pitfalls that had so worried their mother. Even the immigration officials seem to have been welcoming or at least less hostile than imagined. The youngest has let slip in a text that he's been spending time with 'Mia'. This , like many teenage comments,  is a subject best left unexplored. For a kilt wearing farm boy football, beer and Space Mountain might not have been the only highlights of his trip. 

It would seem that the support of the Scottish fans has now switched to Norway. The lads would willingly stay on for the rest of the World Cup but there's a harvest to bring in and credit card bills to be paid down. For the youngest the small matter of choosing and getting ready for university must be addressed. Cambridge still seems to be his first , although surprising, choice.

Down on the beach a man is getting ready to launch himself, and his paraglider, into the air. He politely waits until the lady with the Pomeranian has passed before turning on his engine.

He waves at us as he skims low overhead.

Despite the early hour a large flock of Spanish tourists are already lined up outside the castle. I'd reckon that we're having more visitors than ever although this is based on nothing more than random observation. Perhaps cool weather tourism really is a thing ?

We stop to watch the eider ducks in the water below the cliffs. You know you've reached a 'certain' age when you do things like this. There must be a couple of hundred of the wee things bobbing up and down on the swell.

The mothers form a protective circle and carefully corral the ducklings away from the sharp rocks. This is no easy thing when there's a strong onshore wind driving them on. The life of an eider duck mother has parallels with that of the farmers wife. You can only do your best.

In town large shiny cars are arriving. Graduation week is almost upon us and proud parents are assembling from every corner of the globe. There's  a tangible sense of joy  in the air and the town is never happier or more beautiful than during graduation week. Pride is supposedly a sin but parents can surely be allowed a little of it at this time of the year ? The municipal workmen have repainted the double yellow lines and refreshed the white paint on the roundabout by the cathedral. Traffic management suddenly becomes a municipal priority with so many visitors heading our way.

In Arkansas of all places :https://crystalbridges.org/

For the 'in' crowd. The trendiest of candies :https://crystalicioussnacks.com/

Post Covid some fresh thinking :https://blog.interceptfund.com/p/ending-respiratory-infections

Boston :https://unherd.com/newsroom/america-is-falling-in-love-with-scotlands-football-fans/