View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Sunday 13 April 2014

Tuesday 8 April

Bright and sunny today - in between the April showers. The brisk west wind does nothing to augment the temps, 12C at best.

Excuse me. A man living at number 6 is bailed to stay at number 5 and ordered not to go near his usual address. I don't know how close no 5 is to no 6, but this looks faintly ridiculous.

Went to see the plans for the new ferry terminal at Stornoway, works just starting I think. Should be interesting to see the finished product, by the end of the summer.

Wasn't that eerie? The lady from the guest house in Stornoway who said that you could see eagles in Lewis. She couldn't think of anything else to be seen in the island. Now, I have very, very little Gaelic, but I do know that the Gaelic for eagle is Iolaire. All people from Lewis (and those that have been in touch with me over the years) know about the tragic story surrounding HMY Iolaire, which sank outside Stornoway harbour on 1 January 1919 with the loss of 205 lives. The news item about tourism in the Outer Hebrides only elicited feelings of scorn with me. Sorry. But I'm sure that the eagles were mentioned for a reason - and not for the reason that the lady had in mind. It has inspired me to write a new short story, my 14th.

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