In front of us is a pod of Short-beaked common dolphins. The crew turn the ferry toward the dolphins and kill the engine. What follows is a moment of great collective excitement, recorded in our wide smiles, "wows", and smart phones.

From the ferry crew, I relearn the joy of stopping to take in what is in front of you.

I have with me Ocean Vuong's book, The Emperor of Gladness. When we reach Alltan A'bradhan and are inside the cottage, I read the first line: "The hardest thing in the world is to only live once."

Where N and I are staying in Assynt, in the far North of Scotland, we are geographically closer to Iceland than London. For the first two days, weather is wild and the winds so strong, the North Atlantic looks like it's boiling. I learn from two separate locals that I should be checking the Norwegian weather service, not the Met Office. In volunteering this advice, I suspect that they are also, rightly, making a point about their political and cultural distance from the rest of the UK, in particular England where the Met Office is headquartered.

During our stay, I keep a log of the less familiar animals that I see:
Common Lizard, Camusdarach, 26 June 2025
Short-beaked Common Dolphins, Mallaig–Armadale crossing, 27 June 2025
Elvers, Vesteys Beach, 1 July 2025
Moon Jellyfish, Vesteys Beach, 1 July 2025
Compass Jellyfish, Vesteys Beach, 1 July 2025
Sea Eagle (possible), Scourie, 2 July 2025
Blue Jellyfish, Vesteys Beach, 3 July 2025
Barrel Jellyfish, Vesteys Beach, 3 July 2025
Sea Slaters, Alltan A'bradhan, 3 July 2025
Sea Anemones, Alltan A'bradhan, 3 July 2025
Snipe, Alltan A'bradhan, 3 July 2025
Sea Gooseberries, Sanna Bay, 6 July 2025

I swim everyday except for the first two when it is too stormy and the last three when I have a cold. I look out for Lion's Mane Jellyfish but thankfully I see none.