Sky over the Firth of Forth

Looking across to the Bass Rock and Berwick Law.

Lazy start again, with breakfast in bed. We were just about to go out for a walk when Gary popped in with Cass, his golden retriever.
We spent a couple of hours chatting over a cuppa and playing with the dogs, then Geordie and I walked along the Coastal path to St Monans and back. I had a good rake around the shore for more pebbles. The sky was bright, there was a fair wind, it was quite cold, and there were spots of rain at times, but otherwise it was a lovely sunny afternoon.

When we got back to Pittenweem I watched half a dozen hardy souls swimming in the pool. It looked very cold. The sea was quite rough, splashing on the rocks and over the side of the pool. For a tiny moment I thought I could have a cold shower when I get in, and it would do me as much good as a dip in the sea. But the though disappeared as quickly as it came to me.

I met a man on the Coastal Path a few years ago who was carrying bags with numbers on them. When I asked he explained that it was his job to collect samples of winkles (wilks). Small shell fish that cling to the rocks, apparently are good indicators of the levels of pollution in the sea water. He would take these shell fish to a laboratory near Edinburgh for testing. The numbers on the bags had corresponding numbers on a map which would show exactly which area of the shore the wilks came from.
I thought, so far this is interesting, and reassuring that the levels of pollution are monitored.
The positive thoughts came to an abrupt halt when I enquired re. the results in this area.
He told me that he loves shellfish, but certainly wouldn’t be eating any out of the Firth of Forth.
Jings! I wished I’d never asked.

I was thinking about that conversation today when I was watching the swimmers and looking across the Firth of Forth to the Bass Rock and Berwick Law.