Beaded bubbles*, belatedly

Well, we survived the flood (do you think Noah said that?) - though today's social media was filled with horrific photos from round our way, including hundreds of plastic-wrapped bales of winter feed pouring down the River Aray where it passes Inveraray Castle, under the bridge, which appears to be damaged, and into Loch Fyne, bobbing away into the muddy turbulence of the sea loch as well as the damaged boats swept from Loch Eck and into the River Eachaig, damaging the bridge we walked over on Friday. Horrific - and it's only October. 

The weather impacted on church as well - our Rector stayed here instead of going to Bute, his place being taken by the Lay Reader who was down to officiate here... and several members of the congregation didn't make it, though the 20 or so that did sang heartily. We were even mentioned on the morning news on Radio Scotland - Innellan was cut off from Dunoon, it said!

Once home it was tempting to stay put, to let sleep overcome us ... We couldn't even get our Sunday paper as they hadn't been delivered to Dunoon. Do they come by road? Or was it the floods in Greenock wot stopped them? Anyway, I had to content myself with the Dunoon Observer and a walk round the West Bay before dinner - notable for the fact that I was able at last to open and enjoy my birthday champagne. Slightly more than an octave of celebration ...

I chose these two images deliberately in the face of the darkness that is descending so heavily on parts of the world, in face of the moral choices we have to make in how we respond to them. I realise that as I get older I'm much less willing to attach labels to people, to ideologies, to politics - but I don't know that it makes processing my responses any easier. You? 

* It's Keats. You knew, of course ...