It pours

The farmers two sons head off to the World Cup in Boston on Monday. The eldest is starting to grow a moustache. This may be part of a plan to make him look old enough to buy alcohol. If so it's unlikely to succeed. Not all moustaches are born equal. The farmers daughter has returned from Oxford but there's no sign of the 6' 8" tall boyfriend from Jackson Hole. Perhaps one bout of exposure to a Scottish farming family has made him think twice about 'foreign' girls ?

Any doubts about the existence of climate change are dispelled by the arrival of a tropical thunderstorm. Hail mixed in with heavy rain and lighting turn Thursday afternoon into a replay of the Monsoon season in Chennai. The hail beats down with a ferocity that causes it to bounce back a good six inches from the pavement. You expect Scotland to be rainy. You don't expect the weather to be 'exciting'. Within seconds of the first thunder clap the streets and golf courses have cleared . 

Half an hour later the storm has passed. All agree that it has been 'remarkable'.  The bar by the fountain has filled with a mix of German tourists and American golfers seeking shelter. Not  all of them are keen to leave. Some have discovered the restorative cumulative effect of a whisky chaser with a pint of beer.  I note that the old golf shoes on the window ledge have been 'refreshed' for the summer season with new plastic flowers.

With the storm gone a workman starts work on a memorial plaque to some little known local signatory of the American Declaration of Independence. The memorial to Benjamin Franklin ( boy did he get around ) has been re-painted and this one is about to enjoy the same treatment. Someone is clearly expecting there to be an influx of visitors here for July 4th.

Wedding season kicking in. A young couple standing holding hands while studying a poem that's displayed on the front of the library. The young man reads out the first 'What's my future ?' verse aloud to the young lady . This is a rather charmingly romantic gesture. They then kiss in that oblivious to the world way only early twenty somethings can.  The world might be a better place if more public buildings displayed poetry on their walls. For a few unlucky souls 'resits' have begun.

The lupins in front of chapel have survived the hail rather better than I'd imagined possible.

Music to wake you up. Audience and musicians seem happy :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur3XIkO5DTE

Travelling in Syria :https://sophisms.substack.com/p/the-road-to-and-from-damascus

The cousins go to Windsor :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdMOmd5_tKU

Istanbul is much bigger than you'd think :https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/istanbul/istanbuls-population-drops-for-1st-time-turkey-sees-growth