Music; electricity

As I approached the top of one of the many long staircases from Cockburn Street to the Royal Mile, I felt an electricity in the air. The street was full; shows happening everywhere as part of the Edinburgh Fringe festival. People were handing out fliers to fill crowds. I always love seeing how people invite you to a show. Some hand out fliers kindly. Others stand on street corners. The person I saw first was what we’d call a “chancer” here in Scotland. To a passing tourist, he said “If you can’t make it, it [the show] is on every other day”. This is the “you’ve got to risk it for a biscuit” strategy, an old family saying.As I acclimatised from the relatively quieter streets on which I was walking to one where there were people everywhere, I heard music. At first I thought it was someone singing, but then I realised it was being played through a loudspeaker. Myles’ Smith’s “Stargazing.” I recognised the song but I didn’t know the name, so I had to look it up now, as I sit at home,…