20th august - 11.30am - hello monday morning . . .

v. dim-pigeon is pecking away nonchalantly at the seed on the sill. It's not his usual breakfast spot which is invariably where our smaller avian friends partake of their morning meal but one can not make reservations here. it's first come first served and he or she is so much bigger than them.

the residue of yesterday's turbulent complexities form into tangible blocks, freed from the remand centre of captive memories by the key of peaceful sleep and fresh morning sunlight. I turn the tv on, the regular accompaniment to my breakfast of black coffee and nicotine. but both the noise and the synthetic glare are disturbing, an unwelcome influence in this otherwise quiet atmosphere, and at once, are sent back to their virtual origin, somewhere out there in the aether.

I cut short bogey's regular morning excursion in deference to gill's concerns about the security of her delicate greek guests for whom abject terror reveals its dark form in the presence of the big cuddly dog who barks at strangers. it is obviously not the way well-behaved dogs are meant to behave. polite society has staked its claim, even here, in this secluded highland wilderness.

on reflection, I am spending too much time on the computer. it used to be online chess, an hour or two a day, something to keep the synapses sparking and a guard against the reclusion which could, so easily, surround my existence. a new and intensely personal world has come into being, essentially virtual but as real as the universe itself. I am witness to a new struggle between david and goliath and goliath has no qualms about using dirty tricks. but, as legend dictates, david will win out because he has good on his side, and he has allies that will not abandon him, no matter what.

as I head for the sofa with my second breakfast combination I trip over the dogs' woolly xmas tree which spontaneously chimes its objection with a chirpy rendition of "we wish you a merry xmas". all is calm, muffin's peaceful snoring providing a backdrop of harmony and contentment to the morning scene.