Interlude.

Spent a bit of time on the beach at St Andrew's today. Lots of other people had the same idea even though it was bitterly cold. I even caught sight of an older guy (probably about my age) in a wetsuit and wait for it, one of those furry hats that everybody associated with Russian leaders of state! Each to their own I suppose.

Spent a bit of time trying to get a picture of a raven that was trying desperately to get a hold of some stray crisp or other under the bench we were sitting on. Seems as though these birds have usurped the seagulls position as the avian beggar in the town. They are very bold and a few of them were seen staring out unwary locals in an attempt to frighten them into parting with their lunch.

I only mention this because I've been trying to find out how the bird gets such bad press since the other half gave me a CD by the group Corvus Corax. In nineteenth century France the crow was often used to symbolize the hangman and everybody knows the van Gogh of the cornfield. However, the history of the raven precedes this by a long way.

According to the Talmud, the raven once one of only three creatures that dared to have intercourse on Noah's Ark and the bird was punished as a result. However, we also find two ravens sitting on Odin's throne in Norse mythology and there is a constellation named after these birds. The stars of this constellation are Algorub which is Arabic for the Crow, Al Janah which means the wing, Kraz which means the claw and Alchiba which means the beak. It would therefore seem that the importance of the species extended over many cultures.

However, stomachs could not wait for a ham fisted photographer to get the exposure right in the strong light. Lunch called so off we went. The daughter saw this one on the way back to the car. Seemed a good blip as we were taking her to the station to catch the train back to Glasgow. She's reviewing a gig tonight, so I hope it goes well.