Andrew MacLaren-Scott's Blog, page 47

The three bridges

The new road bridge, beyond the first road bridge, is almost joined up now

and the old rail bridge still beats them both

South Queensferry is always a special place for a promenade and pint

Dead men playing

Around 1903, these fine fellows were about to play from the very spot where I now set out to play on my golf course, although the trees all around are all grown up now and that fine clubhouse burned down in the year of my birth, 1955, to be replaced by the new clubhouse still standing on that same mound. It gives me pause for thought as I set out, once again, to whack a little ball around the island.

click photo to enlargeAnd those old bones that once swung so keenly probably lie in the wet earth somewhere not too far away from where I now swing my own old bones.

By special arrangement - one smile

I have been told that I don't smile enough and look too gloomy much of the time.
You want a smile? Here's a damn smile:

Then the rain came down.

Edinburgh noon

This West End corner of Edinburgh was looking and feeling slightly Parisian, I felt, on this uncommonly balmy September day, but full of contrast on closer inspection, with the grand old Mather's Bar now stuck beside Greggs the bakers, for goodness sake, while the man who "ate all the pies" is moving away to the right. And there is an oddly resting, or stuck, elephant in the room, or on the street, for which I came up with several apt Edinburgh and Scottish interpretations, as I supped my "Americano Classico", which was just a black coffee for goodness sake. Then the wind got up, an autumnal Edinburgh shiver ran through me, and I retreated back indoors to where the old dearies and tired gents were seated.

Another day, another cat

We have another catty visitor, a somewhat nervous one

Looking closer:

and my lady's determination to give a pat required a most un-ladylike pose

Happy smiles all round

Felinity

Just follow the birdie

Blur

My daughter is moving. It has all become a bit of a blur. Days, months, years, lives. Moving on. Hello. Goodbye. Bon chance. See you soon. Again.

Press

South Queensferry Blue

Amid a few days when some stressful things resurfaced, I found it strangely calming to look up at this old clock tower bathed in the last light of the gloaming and think of the people who built it and many of the people who have looked up at its clock face, people whose stresses and concerns are now long gone. Some might find that a depressing reminder of doom, but I found it provoked a helpful thought of the true insignificance of the things that seem so worryingly significant today, but in reality will soon mean nothing. The hot thick potato chips with salt and vinegar enjoyed on the bench looking out across the water also improved my mood, and the tide, although coming in, would soon turn.