Freedom Friday !!!

M and J bursting through the gorse bushes in Warren Wood

Gosh I have exciting news this week! 

On Tuesday the Scottish government announced that they are, as of today and ten days ahead of the the previously announced schedule, relaxing the ban on venturing more than five miles from one's local authority (in our case Aberdeen City) boundary.

So far this year, we've had to content ourselves with gazing on mountains from afar while sticking to our local area. 

But as of today, we can go ANYWHERE IN SCOTLAND!

More exciting adventures to come for sure.

Oh and also, next week Gail will be getting her first professional haircut in six months, and there will be no more danger of her being mistaken for a Highland Coo...

The bad news is that ever since Tuesday's announcement Gail has been singing this song.

https://youtu.be/HqYnevHibaI

And believe me, Gail singing is always a regrettable occurrence.

Happy Nature Friday friends, and thanks once again to our LLB Gang friends for hosting this our favourite blog hop.

Altered perspectives

Cosmologists have got it wrong.
Our universe is not expanding.
At least if viewed the usual way.

But how about instead we look
More carefully at what's nearby,
And realign our sense
Of the exceptional?

Take time to see the beauty in
Neglected, unregarded places.

The crumbling path beside the harbour mouth
Can offer, variously, with luck,
Dolphins, seals, and sunsets quite sublime.

And loss can even turn to gain.
With golfers forced to stay at home
The fairways are all yours to roam,
And taste the freedom of a new domain.

Call me Usain ...

To be running fast and free is absolutely the greatest feeling of all, don't you think?

A stretch of open ground lies ahead. The click of your lead being released is as a starting gun to Usain Bolt. Instantly you break into a vigorous, joyful sprint and, better than any Olympic gold, your prize is to be young, bursting with animal energy, unrestrained.

It's not about the chase (that is a different pleasure).

It's about the feel of the wind lifting your ears as your paws pass swift and light over the soft grass, limbs at full stretch, powered by your finely muscled haunches.

And your owner smiles in pure delight, all troubles set aside, bewitched as ever by your lithe and graceful movement.