Authors Electric

It’s raining in Montana so I’ve not been able to ride the Sacred Trails. We’re staying in Glacier Park Lodge - alias Big Tree Lodge. It’s constructed on a framework of enormous trees, Douglas Firs, estimated to be 500-800 years old when they were felled, more than one hundred years ago. Big Tree Lodge is built on land purchased from the Blackfeet Nation by James J. Hill, ‘the Empire Builder’, boss of the Great Northern Railway. He had to go to Congress for permission to buy the land but the anxious 21st century reader can’t help wondering, and worrying, how much say the Blackfeet leaders will have had in this arrangement? The railway was already running through their territory, it had brought in miners and homesteaders, now Hill planned this lodge for holiday-makers, visitors from the cities to explore the beautiful landscape. The concept of the National Parks was still new, Glacier Park, the tenth to be established, was signed into law by President Taft in 1910. People could buy a per...

   There’s been a distinct lack of writing time over the last couple of months. Partly technical issues, and partly that wonderful thing called life getting in the way. We’ve just spent the last few days moving my eldest into accommodation at university. She’s going to be an Occupational Therapist, but the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of packing up boxes and, in terms of writing, the nearest I’ve managed to get is a couple of recipes and some instructions for the microwave and cooker… I’ve also dredged my memory to advise on the joys of academic writing (because ‘You write stuff, so you know how to do essays’, apparently). I even found a copy of an old guide to how to correctly reference sources and after a quick review and update, gave them that. Fingers crossed it helps, as otherwise I can see me spending the next few months going over Harvard Referencing – not really my idea of fun. The technical side has been more frustrating. As I’m moving away f...

  Edinburgh in August These days I don't tend to venture into the centre of Edinburgh very often, and I must admit I've been even less tempted than usual in recent weeks because Princes Street, which has been a main thoroughfare for centuries as well as a shopping street, has been closed to traffic, even buses and trams. This was because of a major fire there which left a derelict building in danger of collapsing into the street below. I don't know what the crowds of Festival tourists thought of this, though I know some local people were greatly inconvenienced by the changes to transport routes. My son, who lives at one side of town and works at the other, has probably been spending about an hour more than usual on buses, which hasn't been much fun, especially on the hottest days (yes, the temperature went as high as 25 degrees on occasion, and we just aren't used to it!). Apologies for the unseasonal picture! It isn't actually snowing here as I write. However, ...