Gray Skies

While I am not really a fan of Arizona's endless sunny days of relentless heat, I must say after seven days at sea and seven more in the UK and seeing about four hours of sunshine total I think I prefer the former. For those readers contemplating emmigration to this lovely isle in the wake of last Tuesdays election, may I suggest Australia instead? Aussie politics and social prejudices might not be much better than America's current embrace of the Orange Fuhrer but at least you will see the sun more often than Scotland.

We are currently in Stirling, an ancient city with (wait for it...) another fantasic castle which we will visit later today. The town itself, in the city center, is a nice mixture of shops and services presented in a movie-set like array. After checking in to our hotel we went across the street for a great meal in an Indian restaurant and a pint of beer in the corner pub. At the latter we were invited to take the only open seats across from a quartet of charming Caledonians who engaged us in conversation. It was delightful! When they learned we were Americans, of course the conversation turned to our country's recent folly and all four sympathized with our feeling that we needed to apologize for our national origin. They can't stand Orange Julius either, and consider the presence of his golf club on their soil to be a national insult. Thus, they displayed more intelligence than the millions of our fellow countrymen who thought reelecting a man who has boasted of his racism and sexual assault escapades was perfectly fine. When we rose to leave the men shook me warmly by the hand and the female member of the quartet embraced Jayne in a spotaneous display of sympathy and affection. Thinking back on it this morning almost brings tears to my eyes.

During our hair-raising drive to Stirling yesterday we paused for a visit to the Falkirk Wheel, a marvel of modern engineering built entirely to service a centuries-old mode of transportation. Canal boats traversing Scotlands's uneven terrain depend on a series of locks to raise and lower the boats. At Falkirk the elevation change required at least eleven locks

and and an entire day to accomplish. The Wheel shortened that time to one hour. It consists of two huge boat-length troughs of canal water mounted on opposite ends of a rotating wheel. A boat enters one of the troughs, the gate is closed, and then the whole thing raises the boat to the upper level while simultaneously lowering the other. It is strangely quiet as it does so and only takes about three minutes. It does not matter if there is a boat at the opposite end becuase the water dispacement equalizes the weight to the exact ounce! (Think Archimedes here.) It is a stunning example of Scottish ingenuity and a wonderment to witness.