A bit of ... surveillance?

As this strange period in our lives drags on into yet another holiday weekend, the oddness of living in a seaside resort, albeit one that no longer attracts large crowds, becomes more apparent. Thing is, this is a good place to be when you're not allowed to travel: there are lovely places to walk, a variety of landscapes and seascapes to enjoy, roads with little traffic and fewer pedestrians (though nowadays more bicycles than ever). 

But strange things happen. And about half of them never seem to be explained. One day last week we were passed at terrifying speed by a police van which screeched past as we cowered in someone's driveway, buffeted by the wind of its passing, and for the next hour distant sirens told of something going on - but what? And then there are the helicopters.

Some of them are the usual traffic of hospital transport, taking someone from the local hospital to somewhere bigger on The Other Side. But today as I was sitting in the garden a helicopter passed low over my house and headed inland towards the Bishop's Glen, and a couple of hours later we were walking back towards Dunoon along the shore road when one roared past, just offshore, over our heads and up the coast, returning shortly afterwards to pass overhead, slightly higher, and head inland.

I've blipped the photo I took at the time; my earlier attempt was a video, which was dramatic but not blip material. It all felt strange, like being in a movie, just as the total silence of the town a few minutes ago as I locked the door felt unreal. I actually love the silence, were it not for the backstory. Let's hope this movie we're all in has a happy ending ...