Thursday 25 October

Last night, someone at Uig Lodge in Timsgarry (some 35 miles west of here) decided to get rid of some old rabbit poison (containing cyanide), but got into contact with the stuff. He was driven towards town, but was intercepted by the emergency services, who set up a mobile decontamination unit in the middle of the road between Achmore and Leurbost, forcing traffic to divert along the Pentland Road. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

Today saw a transition to markedly colder weather. Although we have the sun back, the moderate northerly wind made the 7C / 45F we had on the thermometer today made it feel a lot colder.

Down in the Caribbean, hurricane Sandy claimed two lives (one in Jamaica, another in Cuba) as it strengthened on passing over both islands. Maximum sustained winds are at 105 mph. The storm will now weaken, but still be a hurricane as it bears down on the Mid Atlantic states and New England in the USA. Oops.

Today's poem (Bridge to Bosta) is a reference to a true story associated with Great Bernera. I wrote it in cooperation with the lady's family, and have their permission to publish the photograph on the entry on this blog. The pic is also shown on my Facebook feed (which has restricted access), but not on the Facebook page on which I publish the poems.