Fin de saison poppies.

A grey but mild start to the day. Two of the young American fathers who are on a years sabbatical at the university are out on the beach. They miss the familiar routines of  Berkeley and Notre Dame but admit to enjoying the chance to have a pre-work walk with their three year olds in the fresh air. Neither particularly enjoys the mind numbing drudgery of having to teach undergraduates at nine am four times a week.  Their take on recent events is that Trump lost the election but the Democrats didn't have the policies to win it. They both, it can be said with certainty , are not fans of Stephen Miller. Do we detect as slight shudder as they mention his name ?

The cormorants and herons are skittish birds and take off when the gesticulating  three year olds start to move in their direction. By contrast the gulls remain resolutely indifferent to the presence of these brightly dressed small humans and cluster defiantly on the  rocks.

On the way back up the hill a splash of colour in the grass. This late in the season the poppies petals have a thin and brittle beauty. 

The town has two booksellers. This morning there's a group of people standing  outside Waterstones waiting for the doors to open. No student would be that keen on a book. The store is opening up early at eight so devotees can get a copy of a new sci-fi novel where the Queen of the Xenons does battle with the evil Guptreaders .... or some such thing. There is much about modern life that leaves me bemused. What makes anyone want to queue for hours to get a book that will go on sale when the shop opens ? Perhaps the book has a very small print run ?

A new store has opened up where the Vodafone shop used to be. Everyone buys their mobile phone on line these days so their days were numbered. There have been delays in getting planning permission for the new branch of 'Accessorize'. The original colour scheme was to have been a shocking Barbie Pink but this was thought to be ' out of keeping with the historic environment '. Plans were resubmitted and a pale grey with gold lettering was approved.  Even in its toned down form it is still very 'bright'. 

The flickering mind :https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/mind-and-brain/your-brain-flickers-between-two-realities-15-times-a-second/

No Paul Simon :https://miniphilosophy.substack.com/p/the-most-philosophical-songs-in-history

Intelligence :https://iai.tv/articles/michael-levin-memory-and-intelligence-do-not-require-a-brain-auid-3719

Moronic pepper eaters. 'The Font' reminds me I - against advice - once ate a wild pepper in Ecuador and lost the power of speech for a day :https://www.acsh.org/news/2026/11/05/youtube-idiots-eat-worlds-hottest-peppers-what-could-possibly-go-wrong-50436

Military bands :https://stevepabst.substack.com/p/why-does-an-army-need-a-band