Trees!

You go to sleep sailing away from Lerwick, and wake up in Aberdeen.

And there’s the chairs that Aberdeen workers use for a pre-work massage… so public.

Then catch a train to Glasgow; trees! So nice to see trees.

On the walk from the ferry through to Aberdeen Union Square (that massive complex which houses trains, buses, shopping, meals and even a hotel), an older Shetland couple proudly shared that they have a daughter in Hastings, and a neice in Wellington. They remembered the South Island of New Zealand as being very flat, so preferred the hilly north! I was too polite to ask if they’d noticed the Southern Alps.

In a moment of indulgence I booked a 1st-class seat on the Aberdeen to Glasgow train. There I sat in splendid isolation, enjoying the space but missing the stories of everyday life being played out in the other carriages.

How come in town after town, subdivision after subdivision, or tenement apartment blocks, they are all the same? Streets of identical houses. Some are very old. Most are new. There’s character occasionally, like bay windows, but most are bland. Acres of houses in the same cladding, and same plan. Many owners add conservatories, but really it’s only how they use the back yard that demonstrates individuality. There’s everything from unkempt wastelands and dumping grounds, to kids playgrounds, treasured gardens, and car parks. In one garden an elderly couple were clearly arguing about how the cover should go over the firewood; each held a corner firmly, and there was a right old tug-of-war going on.

The housing uniformity continues at holiday places. Row upon row of identical seaside or riverside cabins, like tiny homes. Mostly in pale green or cream, with a lounge at the view end, even if the view is just another row of identical cabins. What would happen if one wax painted bright red?

What a joy to see allotments; pity the train flies past with such speed. Green houses, rows of vegetables, sunflowers standing tall, sheds of various shapes, sizes and cladding, and wheelbarrows ready for work.

But it was the trees that completed each view.