Bartimaeus

The days before Christmas were peppered with cycling and eating out with friends, sometimes both combined. I managed to get a number of small jobs done in between, including buying and fitting replacement bulbs for the living room light.

A day or two before Christmas, with sleet forecast overnight and strong winds all day, Kenny and I took a train to Caldercruix so that the wind could blow us home.  We amended our route plan before we got off the train as we could see the ice covering the cycle path.  Our modified route was on a slushy road the other side of the reservoir, which worked very well.  Some sections of the descent were very icy so we ended up going more slowly down in places than we’d gone up.  After lunch at Beecraigs the bright sun had cleared most of the ice so we were able to enjoy our wind-assisted return to Edinburgh.

By Boxing Day, Kenny and I had succumbed to similar lurgies.  The main feature was extreme lethargy.  I found breakfast so tiring that for several days I went straight back to bed afterwards and slept for a few more hours.  By the evening I often felt well enough to consider a cycling trip the next day, but by morning it was clear that it just wasn’t happening.  The days were short and the weather poor, so I suppose it was a good time for it.

By Hogmanay I was feeling just well enough to celebrate the New Year.  The poor weather had resulted in the cancellation of the usual fireworks over Edinburgh Castle, but we all went out to the usual nearby vantage point regardless.

Just after dark on New Year’s Day I saw a red alert for aurora, and a clear sky was visible from the window.  Clare wasn’t feeling fit enough for a wild goose chase, but Bryn and Nye were keen to see what there was to be seen.  I’d seen aurora pictures taken at The Meadows last year so we headed there first.  With the naked eye there was a vaguely discernible colour in the sky, but the camera on my phone suggested there was more to see.  We hurried along towards Arthur’s Seat where we could get away from the lights of the City.

The attractions in the City Centre were still all lit up creating a lot of light pollution, but the aurora easily beat them for scale.  Once we got further along, our eyes were able to get more accustomed to the light levels and we got much better views.

The camera was still able to make more vivid pictures than the eye, but the difference was now much less extreme.  Bryn and Nye headed up the hill hoping for a better view, but I preferred to have the shade of the hill.

After a few minutes, the lights seemed to dim and before long the night sky was black as usual.  I don’t have a bucket list, but seeing an aurora would be on it if I did – and doing so on a walk from home was spectacular.