Life in Numbers: Day XXI

Magical Places, Magical Days

We travelled up the road to Golspie this morning to meet Granny (my mum) and the Aunties Three (my younger sisters). We went for a walk at The Big Burn, before getting some fish and chips. The Big Burn is one of my favourite places in the world. It is (as I explained to Auri in advance, and she later agreed) a magical place. There were trolls hiding under bridges and disguised as trees, and at one point Auntie Clem was swallowed whole by a tree, just her poncho left hanging there on a branch. I picked what must surely have been the last four raspberries of the season for the girls, and the half a dozen blackberries that were already ripe.

The gulls waited for us to finish our chips before descending. As soon as we tidied away, four swept in to pick up the scraps that had fallen to the floor (a plucky jackdaw joined them, too). Driving back home shortly afterwards, we saw four cormorants sat on the shore, one with its wings spread wide to dry.

And so, that is that. The last day of summer. At least she pulled out the stops earlier this week, weather-wise. Tomorrow we will be into autumn proper, and the year will start disappearing even faster.