INTRODUCTION


      To be a resident or a visitor to Orkney is to be struck by many things – everywhere, loch, sea, and peaty burn separate the land with fingers of sparkling water. Dressed in a hundred greens and bonneted with browns and purples, the hills gently curve whalelike against the surface of an enormous sky; but even a day in Orkney will reveal a secret, that this vista is merely a backcloth and stage for the real players in this glorious drama, the elements.

      Not for us the monoglot weather of foreign climes - the dry heat of the Sahara, the tropical sweat box of the Amazon or the permafrost of Siberia.

      Over a year, Orkney will throw at you the watery vigour of the Atlantic, the icy touch of the pole and occasionally the unveiled burn of the northern sun.

      This little booklet is a brief introduction to the players, Wind, Rain, Frost, Snow and Sun. Wind has the biggest part and Rain not far behind. Frost flits in and out, while Snow is fickle and although she does beautify the land, she does not remain on stage for long. The smallest part goes to Sun but he lifts the heart of the audience whenever he appears.


Alastair Macleod , Kirkwall 2004.



An Orkney Wind

      Gauging the strength of the wind becomes easy - a force nine tears at the dead skirt of the palm tree, and sends the fronds rapping on the windows overlooking the garden.
It upsets the tall ali baba pots and tips

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: alastair macleod
Bildmaterialien: alastair macleod : authors own photos
Lektorat: alastair macleod
Übersetzung: cover typeset in classical
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.12.2012
ISBN: 978-3-7309-0477-0

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Widmung:
"illustrated paperback edition first published in 2004, now in Ebook with added photos"