Strange portents

Yesterday, late afternoon, Buddug the cat brought in a small bird. Unlike most, this one's batteries still had a charge in them, so it flew around the spare bedroom for awhile until I could usher it out the window. That was when I noticed the view.

Freezing fog had formed on the high plain to the south and was pouring over the top of the hill, spilling down into the valley like some giant had spilt cream all over the Cambrian Mountains. I stood and watched it
filling up the lower valley for about fifteen minutes. I'm glad I don't live down there as it doesn't see much in the way of sunshine during the winter.

The last time I saw something like this was some years ago, sitting on the top of Norman's Law in Fife. From there you can see south to Edinburgh and I watched for about half an hour as fog rolled up the Firth of Forth and worked it's way along all the valleys towards me until only the peaks of the Lomond Hills and the Ochils could be seen floating in a sea of fluffy white marshmallow. Then, finally, the fog reached the base of the hill I was sitting on, and surged up it in defiance of Newton.

It was only then that I thought to look behind me, over the Tay Estuary* towards Dundee. Except that neither the Tay nor Dundee were there (which some might say was a good thing). It was the infamous Haar, wafting in off the North Sea, and it had surrounded me completely so that for a few moments I was sitting in splendid isolation atop the law, with only distant Munroes and a few lesser peaks for company.

Then the fog rose over my head and I had to make my way back home in zero visibility.

As far as I can remember, nothing extraordinary happened as a result of that experience, but I can't help thinking yesterday's sight was ominous. Will I be fortunate, or is there something nasty on the horizon?

fly little birdy, be free**

*I've never found out why it's the Firth of Forth but the Tay Estuary. Answers in the comments section, please.
**This is the view out of my bedroom window, which goes some way to explaining why I put up with this crappy job.

Comments

Stuart MacBride said…
"...explaining why I put up with this crappy job."

No - lovely job. Remember, Google can be a powerful weapon in the hands of evil personnel officers!
JamesO said…
Ahh, but they'd have to recognise the picture from a google search, and it's not labelled with the name of the farm.

I was stupid enough to mention the Ag...p project, but I've never blogged the name of the company - that might get Barbara into trouble.

Besides, as far as I'm concerned any job is crappy;}#
That view is indeed spectacular.

I've seen some nice fog brewing when I crossed the Firth of Forth by train back from Aberdour, and about an hour later, it started rolling down the Princess Street. The fog, not the train. A warm day turned chilly quite sudden, and of course, I didn't bring a jacket and the bus to my B&B was late.

You always bring a jacket or cape when traveling in Scotland, no matter how fine the day looks. ;-)

Popular Posts