It’s never just rain

I work from home most of the time and, from where I’m sitting right now, I can see the main road at the end of our little estate, the houses beyond it, and beyond those the edge of the Crags, a local hill crowned with a line of rocky cliffs. The view reveals itself in layers. Beyond the houses, a small copse of trees fills the foreground before the land rises gently towards the foot of the Crags. As I write this the sky is overcast. A light smirr hangs in the air, while low cloud softens the outline of the hill until the cliffs seem to fade into the mist. It’s an entirely ordinary scene and yet quietly beautiful. All thanks to the Scottish rain. Scottish rain Visitors often arrive in Scotland with the impression that we have only one kind of weather. They glance out of the train window somewhere north of the border, watch another shower sweep across the landscape and conclude, with a knowing smile, that it’s raining. Again. They’re not entirely wrong, it does rain here. A lot. But to…