Dusk

It’s been a partly frustrating day. My email was malfunctioning somewhat on my laptop, so I tried to remove my work account and then put it back on again. And since then, everything has gone wrong. I managed to make contact with the IS helpline and they think it is something to do with the fact that, as a managed laptop, I am not the administrator. Hence, I don’t have the password to fix it. It’s very frustrating. Email is not working properly, and no Adobe software including Lightroom and Acrobat is working. I hope to get it fixed tomorrow, but as I am on leave, I fear that might not be the case.

So I’ve had to process my photos tonight on my ipad, which - thank goodness - has almost the same workflow as the laptop and with the magic keyboard is basically usable as a surrogate laptop. And no one else has any permissions over it…. Hurrah.

But I guess in the grand scheme of things that’s just a blip, because actually the grand scheme of things is swimming at Shandwick this evening and feeling the power of the sea. I was very happy in the waves at dusk. We were hoping to see the moon, but no such luck. But the dusky light was just gorgeous. So with an effort of will, I will look at the positives and not the negatives, and one of the positives was obviously driving away from Edinburgh early this morning, another was working this afternoon in my house in the north, and the final one was swimming with the rest of the crew. In my new shorty sleeveless wetsuit, which was very comfortable and rather cosy to swim in.

But a more serious, long term negative is also something I need to mention. Like many, I’ve been shocked at the destruction of the famous sycamore tree on Hadrian’s Wall. I cannot comprehend what might have lain behind such a wanton act of vandalism.