Natural highs and lows

When I am in need of headspace (and what with the state of the world, I very am), I gravitate towards the island of North Ronaldsay at the far north-eastern corner of the Orkney archipelago. A long weekend, accommodated at the Bird Observatory is just the thing, I find. At only three miles by one mile, somehow its smallness gently brings one's focus towards what is front of you, and only that, rather than any thoughts of the global snitstorm. So here is a selection of the wildlife and landscapes that were in front of me from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening... Purple Sandpiper, Nouster Bay The famous seaweed-eating sheep, Nouster Bay Harbour Seals, Nouster Bay (one is having a pee) Harbour Seal, Nouster Bay Lapwing, in pasture by Gretchen Loch Wren, by Ancum Sheep skull, outside the Wool Mill Waves, Dennis Ness North Ronaldsay Lighthouse and foghorn (with photo-bombing Fulmar) Note: There's lots of Fulmars on North Ronaldsay, as most of the island is coast, and they photo-bom...

It is, perhaps, one of the less trickier questions to consider in life... should one ever go outside in one's slippers? I recently had occasion to ponder upon this when I needed to step just outside the front door to fetch stuff indoors from the car... where's the harm? A short stretch of concrete path was all I had to negotiate, what could possibly go wrong? After mulling the matter for several microseconds, the mission was given the green light. As I exited the door, my attention was instantly drawn to an Openreach engineer to my immediate right, who was busy lifting the access cover to a cable joint at the boundary of the property. But no sooner had I fleetingly registered this fact and wondered whether there were implications for my uninterrupted use of broadband, when a sound heralded an even more momentous scene to my left. I turned to stare in amazement as a flock of several dozen sheep advanced up the road, making a break from who knows where. Several things occurred to...