Quotation of the Day

Nothing like the act of eating for equalising men. Dying is nothing to it. The philosopher dies sententiously - the pharisee ostentatiously - the simple-hearted humbly - the poor idiot blindly, as the sparrow falls to the ground; the philosopher and idiot, publican and pharisee, all eat after the same fashion - given an equally good digestion.

Mrs Gaskell, North and South

The 100 Steps

As I promised when I posted about Cromarty, here's a picture post about the local walk known as 'the hundred steps'. It climbs from the shore to the headland via a number of actual steps: I didn't count them, but suspect there are more than a hundred, and our host thought likewise, but it's a good name, so let's not spoil it.

I don't have a good photo of the actual start of the walk, down by the jetty. Instead, here's a door - not that we'll be going through it, but it's still a good signifier of beginnings and departures, isn't it?

( So follow me through the cut, and we'll be on our way... )

In place of a photograph

Having temporarily disabled my camera, I don't have a satisfactory photo of the window in Cromarty which took my fancy. It was displaying three stickers:

• The first carried the word 'Yes' in a bold, clear typeface.


• The second had the word 'Yes' in the same face, but with 'still' inserted above it in a handwritten style.


• The third had been similarly edited to read 'More Yes than ever'.

Fair enough.