Friends, I know that many, perhaps all, of you live in places where the summers are warmer than ours here in Aberdeen.
And maybe you will think I am taking the 'cup half full' thing a bit far when I say that there are advantages to living in a city where hot days are rarer than icebergs at the Equator. But please bear with me.
The thing is, if we do, by some fluke of the jet stream or whatever, actually experience properly warm weather, all normal rules of behaviour are suspended for the duration, and this can be to a pup's advantage.
Take last night. Most unusually, it was still over 20ºC when Gail and I went for a late evening walk around the harbour mouth area.
We were not alone.
Other dog walkers, golfers, frisbee throwers, photographers hoping for sight of a dolphin, kids bravely venturing into the always frigid North Sea, cyclists, joggers, Polish workers from the fish processing factory relaxing with a beer, students tending a barbecue…. you name it, they were out there enjoying the (relatively) balmy conditions.
And I am pleased to report that one group of giggly girls were not paying attention to their half eaten picnic on the wee beach by the harbour wall. So I decided to help them out (don't you just hate food going to waste?) And I must say those sausage rolls were most delicious.
The giggly girls just giggled some more at the sight of this happy wire-haired fox terrier licking flaky pasty from his beard, as Gail tried unconvincingly to reprimand me, while herself failing to suppress a smile.
Although Gail did not see fit to record this particular episode on camera, she did take some other photos on our walk, and I hope these will give you a flavour of our one day of Aberdeen summer.
(You will just have to imagine the flavour of the sausage roll.)
