Where to begin? Well, with the weather of course. The Atlantic weather systems that blow in from the west determine much of how people live here on the Isle of Luing like whether the fishing boats will go out or the ferry will run.

These last few days, though, it’s been wild southerly gales that had us coorying up in our cottages here in Cullipool, glad to be indoors looking out at the driving rain and mountainous seas. Yesterday even the huge diggers along the shore which have been building up the village’s defences against winter storms were silenced by the ferocity of the winds sweeping up the Firth of Lorn. At around half past three I was surprised to see Birgit at the front gate, home early from work because the ferry was going off. The ferrymen have a well-worked phone round system to tell everyone who works in Oban to drop everything and get back to North Cuan before they have to tie up for the day.

This morning the wind dropped a bit and turned sou’westerly, and we’ve even seen blue sky and sunshine for the first time this week, but there are still plenty of white horses rolling in out there past the bright red rowan berries.

Recently I’ve been rewriting the Luing Community Trust draft Business Plan for an Atlantic Islands Centre, rather dry sounding I know, but if we can obtain funding for it, an exciting prospect for the life of this community and the interpretation and renewal of Hebridean culture. I’ve also been working with Steve Pardue and Carol Collis on developing ideas for interpretation along the Oban to Fort William Path for cyclists and walkers, part of which is already open and more is under construction, and along the seafront in Oban, both of which have involved researching the natural and human history of the area.

This week I’ve also been sending out news of the next geopoetics guided walk round Aberlady Bay on 1 November and other talks and events to come. It will be good to meet up with friends old and new and to plan our activities well into next year, and there’s even the prospect of an informal ceilidh afterwards in the Gothenburg pub in Prestonpans with Dave Francis, Mairi Campbell and Hamish Moore, the wizard of the Scottish small pipes. The new forum on our website which Steve has set up looks as if it could take off, all we need is more members to register and join in. What about it then?

Reading Alison Prince’s biography of Kenneth Grahame I’ve found it much more perceptive and absorbing than Elaine Feinstein’s of Ted Hughes. Where Alison’s writing is lively and, as a children’s author and someone with a deep understanding of both nature and cities, full of insight into the period and the man, I found Elaine’s rather dry, too focused on Ted’s Byzantine relationships and lacking that spark of interest in a life so necessary to engage the reader. Alison, who lives on Arran and edits the Arran Voice, isn’t afraid to offer her own discerning observations on Grahame’s motivations and beliefs and her book seems all the more rounded and readable for that. Biographies are big on my reading list at present to help me find the right approach to my research and writing of the life and work of Oscar Marzaroli, the much loved photographer and film-maker. Oscar seemed to know everyone and everyone knew him in the Scotland of the 1960s to 80s and tracking his story is proving to be a daunting yet hugely satisfying task.

The light has started to fade now and the wind has got up again and is gusting and whistling round the village. Time for me to sign off this first of what I hope will be many blogs.

Norman Bissell