JockoT's Journal, 05 May 2016

It's a shame - the weather here is beautiful again. Enjoy your dancing later! 

Suzy: It rains on and off all years round here. July is one of our wetter months. I have even seen snow at the beginning of June! Benefits are, no great extremes. Seldom do we get a drought of a severe freeze. 

Suzy: It is never warm enough to go swimming in the sea here. Not without a wet suit or such. Unless you are a Marine or Navy Seal! 

Didn't Billy Connolly used to tell a tale about going on holiday to Dornoch and his Mum getting him & his brother to swim in the sea? It created a response along the lines of "There's men out there (on the rigs) in survival suits in case they fall in and Ma was encouraging us to go in in our skiddies!" 

Latest figures for immersion in the North Sea, wearing a life jacket AND a survival suit, is a few minutes to half an hour. 

I know, Jocko - I used to dive off the East Coast (Isle of May, etc) in a drysuit. It was best described as "Baltic". The Farne Islands always seemed even colder but I guess that's because they're even further around the UK so the Gulf Stream doesn't reach that far. Still, not as cold as Milford Sound in a wetsuit!! 

It is so interesting to learn about the weather where you are Jocko. I am thinking it is a ruggedly beautiful area but I do believe I would miss the sun.  

Our weather is the reason the Scots flock overseas for holidays! I don't. I holiday in Scotland. You only miss the sun if you let yourself get used to it. I was in Northern California (Santa Rosa) in December, and it was as warm as a warm day in Fife. It can get warm in the Scottish glens, away from the coast, but here we get the Easterly Haar, a cold sea fog that drifts in to spoil any warmish days. 

I plan to one day vacation in Scotland! Maybe once my kids are grown. :) 

Scotland is a beautiful place. The climate does mould a country's inhabitants. Perhaps that is why Scots are so stoic. (A good Greek reference there!) 

The Highlands start about 30 miles north of here. Sean Connery is from Edinburgh, a few miles south of me. I too am a devoted Nationalist. SNP have just won a third term of governing Scotland. I am watching the election results coming in now. 

Thanks.