Although we started with some early sunshine, cloud very soon took over, leaving us with a bitterly cold southeasterly breeze. The same breeze that has been with us for much of last week. Although the thermometer shows us barely above freezing, we have had no snow. The mainland hills are very white on the distant horizon, and elsewhere in the UK, snow and ice continue to cause travel disruption. Yesterday, snow claimed 4 lives in Glencoe, 15 miles south of Fort William, when an avalanche swept a group of climbers off a 3000+ foot high mountain.
I was saddened to hear of a teenage boy in Albuquerque who had used a firearm to kill two adults and three children. Does the right to bear arms really justify having military-style firearms freely available? Please. Yes, there will always be nutcases, cranks and criminals determined enough to lay hands on weapon. But if they are not so freely available, wouldn't it at least lessen the chance of another mass-shooting happening again?
Applecross Forest at dusk
