Mirth.

 The weather starts off a bit 'iffy' but soon the sun is out and it's warm.

This years intake of freshers are gathering early for their first pier walk. This is a time honoured tradition and like all good traditions it survives because it serves a useful purpose. In this case it's a great way to meet new people.

A large turnout this year. Of the 2000 or so freshmen I'd estimate that 80% have shown up. In fact there's so many a queue soon forms that stretches all the way back from the pier to the castle. Four large buses carrying Spanish tourists arrive as the proceedings are about to start. The tourists take photos and wonder what sort of ceremony this can be. Is it a cult ?

Boys walk slowly towards the harbour in the hope the girls will talk to them. The  lads are, for the most part disappointed, but this doesn't stop them from trying.

Parents are, as is so often the case, more visibly excited than their offspring . They cheer and clap whereas their teenagers maintain an air of aloof detachment as if this is something they do every day. We are asked to  take pictures of a Singaporean grandfather and his wife who are here to watch their grandson walk to the end of the pier. " I didn't believe I'd ever see this " he says mopping his eyes with a handkerchief . His wife exudes the sort of ' no words can describe it'  happiness that God reserves for grandmothers.  Three American ladies introduce themselves and inform us their sons are starting off here. "We're so proud " they say in perfect unison. We tell them the boys must be 'smart cookies' which is true but I'm not sure that it's politically correct to say that these days. Demand from the US is up 15% this year ( although numbers for international students remain capped at last years levels ) and we tell the mothers their sons are among the smartest cohort ever . They take this at face value and wander off to tell their husbands this good ( if statistically dubious )  news.

When the youngsters reach the end of the pier there's a ladder you have to climb up  to a higher level . Some of the young women are finding that the combination of ladder and strong breezes requires the help of 'gallant' young men to pull them up. This takes time. Mirth is in the air. Much ice is broken.

The guests at the fancy American wedding are still around. In the afternoon we see them wearing dinner jackets and black ties heading into the town kirk for a private concert. We spot the lunatic uncle ( every family has one ) who is still dressed for a walk on role in Outlander. The women are in stylishly impractical heels. The men are all sockless and wearing velvet slippers. Is black tie without socks a thing ? When I say 'all' the men are sockless this does not include the English side of the family who are sensibly shod for the Scottish weather.

Life dilemmas :https://sketchplanations.substack.com/p/the-ordering-problem

Growth :https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/08/31/fits-and-starts/

Age :https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2026/09/an-aging-world.html