Northern Light

Having now given up on being outside because we are being eaten alive by millions of these ferocious beasties....I have come indoors to sit and contemplate and in doing this find myself considering the wisdom of these clouds of midgies and why it is that they adore me; have also begun to adore my dear one and chomp at the dogs? All with furious abandon.
Consider this: Wisdom is a product of time and experience.
Marcel Proust said " We don't receive wisdom. We must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us"
So what is going on with midgie wisdom that they are crowding in on my heart space in Yell? What wisdom can they possible impart by biting every bit of me so that I roar out, find red lumps and bumps and itchy bits all over me. Even my hair is not immune. Do I need a midge invasion to escalate my emotions from calm to sreaming ahhhhhhhh!!!!?
Och probably I do. Maybe the midge in its wisdom is asking me to make noise above their normal buzz...then I might change my smell and inner energy and then they will buzz off. Sounds like a plan.
Watch out Unst and Fetlar! Human energy is rising in Yell and who knows what will come of this personal high energy and new wisdom. But the midgie population you have is about to increase, as the Yell midgie population decreases. Here is my plan from midgie wisdom now imparted. I intend to YELL
VERY LOUDLY
AND NOW

Don't know what happened to the picture. I think the bonxies must have danced through IBHQ's inner workings? Here they are again. Let's hope they stay captured here!

Today's warm weather means the day has been spent doing the vast amount of grass cutting around the outside of the house.
These bonxies dance around over the beach and way beyond these days - so as Carole (amongst others) mentioned pictures, hope this is a start?

I am always impressed at the folk who have time for blogging here. I mean to do more and often write the blog in my head as I walk the dogs, but that is where it stays. Therefore blogging unkens from this part of Yell remains unblogged!
June always brings our friends from the South - summer dim is a great attraction. This year there seems fewer birds around to watch and yesterday we saw that 'our' rain geese had abandoned their nest and we had so hoped the hatching would happen - as the parents had nursed the nest so well. We suspect it was washed out in some of the really heavy rain we have been having.
When friends visit it gives great excuse to become tourists in Shetland as well.
What a lovely time we had. The new Museum in Lerwick is so good and the bairns just love everything there too. We travelled, marvelled at the sights and views, laughed with everyone we met whilst sharing lots of unkens and furthermore ate well all through Mainland, Yell and Unst. Think on about who we have still to meet and where to go!
This might sound like a peerie come on in from some tourist site - but honestly, you can't beat being home, with friends on a visit, to have a holiday!!
And home is Shetland - and don't we all just love it!

When reading Hermit Life's recent contribution I was thinking of Bah Humbug types... this took me to a recollection of a Scottish friend of mine - now a long time resident of Canada - telling me of an encounter with a new young work colleague who was in awe of my friend's ability to speak other languages. Firstly, the youngster wanted to know if my friend could 'speak fluent Scottish?'......and when assured that he could indeed speak fluent 'Scottish' the youngster then wondered whether German was also a language he could understand? The reason he asked this was because he had always wondered what ' Bah Humbug' actually meant? Thinking to educate the young even more the suggestion was made that maybe Charles Dickens would be a good place to start? 'Ah!'....said the young and puzzled person, that would be the 'Bah Humbug' from The Muppets?'
My friend remains grateful he can speak fluent Scottish, as it assisted his response at that one precious moment in time...
Happy Christmas to all from Yell...its been truly beautiful weather here today.

I would be replying to comments ..but there is a hassle. Anne at IBHQ tells me that the reason my comments will not go through is because of my firewall. Now I have a kind of jig type relationship with my excellent firewall. It likes to pull me in and slug me out. This is particularly noticeable on the chat programmes when I can sometimes see and hear my ain folk on the other side of the world but the fire-beastie sometimes throws a slug and then there is no chance and it and I are forced to resort to words alone. I have developed a particular jiggy movement which confuses the fire-beastie..(I am not in Shetland during Up Helly A Season for no reason) and sometimes, like magic, I can do what I want. But frankly when I have such beautiful views and such a fine peace of mind why involve myself in battles of fire just to resort to Island blog comments? I am a water type person anyway.
But I do want to say Happy Birthday to the person up north with chocolate cake roon the chops and also to say sorry I missed the adventure of the trip to Yell when you both seemed to be wearing the wizard's cloak? Sounds like my tea bags would have come in handy and you were so close by!
The only adventure with the keegle ower weather has been the discovery that the wind whistling through the roof is really not supposed to happen - and there was me thinking it was some kind of Wise Shetland elemental calling as to when it was a suitable time to walk the dogs....Roof is now 'sealed' and how quiet it is indoors! sssshhhhh........

Have been heartened to have such welcomes here and thank you . I will feel much more at home in the world of Island blogs now.
Have been to a family funeral in Glasgow. Stepping back into a world of family only now seen at such events. Those hatches, matches and despatches where all the generations seem only now to fully come together because we are all scattered world wide, North to South and East to West. I find myself asking - just exactly who am I related to here? Then as all we meet and talk, sharing memories and laughter there more discoveries. One in particular about an old family secret, long buried but now able to be opened up so that greater understandings of old schisms can be brought to present time.Never realising that why that branch of the family stayed separate from the rest of us was because the father never married the mother although they lived together for 60 years and had three bairns. But such was the entire family shame.
Gracious me!
But a second cousin has been doing more genealogy research and for a change concentrated on one of the great grandmothers. And, wow! A whole new crowd of folk from Skye has entered my past.
I wonder what they would all have to say on the Island Blog.

Have been taught more new Shetland words by my ever lovely neighbours - this time, "keegle ower". This was in relation to how many New Year celebration drinks we could share and enjoy from the mobile bonds being carried round the houses by all our Yell first foots before we all keegled ower!
It is usual anyway to keegle ower in Yell. My morning walk to the beach with the dogs involved the keegle ower wind blowing me about quite a bit, to the extent I swayed about a lot - so anyone seeing me would be thinking 'aye, a fair few consumed there!' (The New Year Day champagne yesterday was just wonderful - but was of a calibre that did not encourage a keegle ower)
Anyway, the beach was as ever, totally stunning. My dogs just love the rumpus the soft sand offers them and they charge about sniffing and searching for otter tracks (which they usually find). Today the dogs and I watched a perfect rainbow being formed across the Sound and as I stood there - being in the moment - I experienced one of those visual instances that stays within soul for evermore. One of those moments when at times of sadness or despair that very instance can be called upon again and helped to lift the spirit to a lighter place of being.