Raigmore art

I went to Raigmore hospital today for an xray, and I realised that I have been there a few times over the past 15 years I have been in the Highlands. Feelings are mixed about people's experiences at our big hospital. I have always had a good feeling here, and have always found the staff courteous and comforting.

This is the stained glass windows which adorn the hospital chapel, and I have always liked them; they are called "Four Seasons" by the strangely named Bodo Rehfeld. I saw a reference to him having put in a stained glass window in a railway station in Ross & Cromarty, but don't know anything more about him or this project. These panels always lift the spirits as you trudge to whatever ward or department you have to go to.

It reminds me, however, of a heated discussion we had in the school about spending money on such things. This came about because of the debate about spending money on the Kessock Bridge firework display last weekend. In my lifetime, I have heard the same debate over and over about spending money on 'frivolous' stuff - usually music and the arts. However, we have had the same debate about the Apollo landings - why could the money not be spent on better health care? The Scottish Parliament? I, personally, would not want a modern cheap block for our national parliament. The millennium dome? ah, now , there I would agree with the woman who said that for the same money we could get rid of homelessness in Britain, and that THAT would be a better symbol to have for the new Millennium. So, maybe I am not so different from all the other objectors.

I just happen to think that I am right. I think that we need such things to brighten up our lives, and sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we have egg on our faces.

Just a pity that when they put in this stained glass creation, someone couldn't have asked the joiners to put in better wood, and more aesthetically pleasing door handles....