Still raining in Scotland when we left. Still hot in London when we arrived.

Now we’re all moving on, scattering in different directions, and as confused by the weather as the trees around us. In Scotland some trees we saw were up to their knees in water, while here those that thought autumn was coming seem to be clutching on to their leaves, reluctant to let them go. It’s strange, like suddenly finding St Paul’s blasting rock music rather than the reassuring ring of occasional bells.

And then there’s the news – the shock of an awful earthquake, and the tragedy of another war flaring up, ugly and raw.

These are unsettling times, but they are not the first, and the book I’m reading is a good reminder of that. I’ve now read a little more of The Christian Watt Papers – Memoirs of a Fraserburgh Fishwife, and it is so clear that her life (1833-1923) was full of hardship on a truly daunting scale. First there was the every day business of earning a living, and then there were the wars, and upheaval, the destitution and tragedy that surrounded their communities. It’s encouraging to see through her, that we can adapt and do adapt, and to read her words as she looks back on her life:

“… At the closing of my days, I have encountered so much kindness. I am blest every time I breathe. My life has been hard but I would not say it has been a sad waste …”

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023