This Time, I Remembered the Camera

A hazy Sunday morning view of Edinburgh

There are only a few minutes until midnight and the end of July and the beginning of August. I shall be unlikely to finish this blog before the bewitching hour but at least, I shall have made an attempt to start a blog before July is out. As my last blog was on the 2nd. of June, it has been almost two months since I added my little bit of wisdom or silliness (you pick) to the world wide web.

My inspiration for making the effort to tap the old keyboard was to update my blog of the 9th. April. Therein, I bemoaned the fact that I had gone on a wee drive in the country to the west of the city in which I have spent most of my life but went on that little trip without a camera. The scenery had looked fantastic in the clear air and the glorious lighting. I vowed to return some day with a camera, although I felt that I was unlikely to be blessed with the same great photo conditions and so it was to prove. This Sunday, with my camera, I tried to recreate the opportunity for photographic marvellousness that I stupidly missed in April. The clouds did allow the sun to grace us with it's warmth and light but also took delight in denying such pleasures when they felt the urge. There was even a hint of rain (how unusual !!!). However, I did manage to capture some views from a hill known as The Knock and enclose a sample of my efforts.

The view above is looking east and if you scan to the left of centre, you should be able to locate the control tower of the airport, while above that, is Grannies (Corstorphine) Hill*. To the right, the great bulk of Arthur"s Seat can be seen, while beyond, from left to right are the hills in Fife, East Lothian and Midlothian. Lost within the haze, is the City of Edinburgh and I was tempted to think that someone, say a thousand years ago, standing on the same hill, would have seen the same outline although without the same details and certainly no airport control tower. I also felt that I was like a traveller, seeing the city for the first time, with only the bird song in my ears and the expectation of what might await me when I entered through it's gates. While everything and everybody that is important to me and has shaped me as a person is or has been in that city, I have never felt that I totally belong to the city. However, I was standing in the county in which I was born and not that far from the very place of my birth and yet I can't claim to be anything but a visitor to West Lothian. It would seem that I shall have to accept that perhaps I am always just a visitor to this lifetime, as are we all.

                                         * Please see my previous blog on this Hill.

View looking southwest with wind turbines on the horizon.

Looking west with the ruins of farm buildings.

Looking north passed the stone circles to the Kingdom of Fife.


It is now well into the first day of August and my bed beckons, so I must take my leave of your good self. I would promise to blog again soon but you would be quite right to disbelieve such promises, so I will simply say that I hope we meet again over the digital ether at some time in the future. Until then, may you enjoy your world and the people that inhabit it.