New Year, Flambeaux, Hurricane 'Bawbag' and Red Squirrels Featured
Happy New Year. to all. I hope it's a good one.
Hogmanay in Comrie is a strange old event. This village loves a good celebration, and we particularly seem to enjoy dressing up. The kids dress up at 6 in the White Church, and then the adults do it at midnight and traipse around the village for a good hour following the pipe band and the flambeaux. They are flaming torches, and truly they are a sight. I always have such admiration for the blokes who carry them, because apart from being pretty heavy and unwieldy they must be flippin' roasting underneath. No wonder so many wear hats. Or was that to keep out the torrential rain this year? No matter. The hundreds (or more likely thousands) of people in the square all seemed to have a good time and the flambeaux stayed lit all the way round till all the evil spirits were gone. There were plenty spirits, evil and otherwise, being consumed in the street too, by the looks of things.
It was fun. My Bobbin Mill guests had a good time and one was a piper who played outside on New Year's day and I was very impressed. He was very good. I too am a piper but I prefer to play my smallpipes and they're in a different key than the big ones, so I resisted the temptation to join in a semitone lower. My New Year's resolution is to get the big ones out of the box more often. They deserve an outing from time to time, and Burns Night is nearly upon us, so I'd better make an effort and have a wee 'blaw' at them.
'Hurricane Bawbag' as the Scots have so eloquently termed our horrendous storm wreaked its havoc and there are uprooted trees all over the village. We were lucky, there was no damage done, but we are awaiting the tree surgeon to minister to the several broken ones we do have. Now because of the mild weather, the snowdrops are out, the quince is flowering and the kamikaze red squirrel that lives along the road has woken up and has been risking its life running in front of the car again. They're all in for a bit of a shock. It's baltic out there tonight and apparently we're due some snow next week but for now, the days are sunny, the sky is clear and there are so many stars. There is little light pollution here and we do get great skies. It is a lovely place to live and I feel very lucky.
