corMorant

On my way into the office on the no 36 bus earlier this morning, I heard a man regaling his companions with a story. He was telling them the folk tale of how the Giants causeway in Co. Antrim was formed (the Finn MacCool's missus frightening away the Scottish giant who strode back to Scotland and tore up the bridge version). It was so good to hear proper story-telling, and in such an unlikely setting. His colleagues seemed to listen appreciatively, as far as I could tell with my back towards them. I would love to have watched their faces.

During a day of work/coming home/realising I'd left my keys hanging from the keyhole in the desk drawer/going back again to pick them up (good thing it was Edinburgh rather than Gateshead), I was nonetheless aware that today would mark my 1000th blip (with no passes). So I was on the look out for numbers like, ooh, 1000, or Roman numerals like a capital M, say. But the only thing I saw was a ghastly yellow san serif 'm' on a signboard in Princes Street pointing at some sort of fast food outlet.

So on my second trip home (with the house keys this time) I got off the bus a stop early and was very pleased to see the Water of Leith cormorant drying his wings in a picturesque manner. From one angle his wings even made a reasonable approximation to "M". But that one had a rather muddy, confused background and this one had nicer colours - the water is reflecting the sky here (note the unusual blue tint). If you rotate your head by 90 degrees to the left then he together with his reflection make a sort of M. Oh, poo, I was never very good at this kind of thing.

So I would just like to extend the by now traditional (but no less genuine) thanks to Joe, G, Gary B and all at Blipcentral, for creating and maintaining this magical place. And to my semi-brother Jim who started DaveH off and then me as soon as I got my hands on a digital camera. I've made many friends here and I've seen some wonderful photographs; I hope for many more of both. You know who you are!

Meles meles