{"id":64,"date":"2022-09-23T21:22:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T21:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/?p=64"},"modified":"2022-10-13T18:52:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T18:52:52","slug":"st-andrews-and-the-birnham-oak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/2022\/09\/23\/st-andrews-and-the-birnham-oak\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Andrews and the Birnham Oak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The adapter for my laptop wouldn’t fit in most outlets in our room. There just wasn’t enough clearance, below. Lesson learned for next time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This outlet by the door did work. My strategy was to use the laptop on battery while working, and then charge overnight by the entry door.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our first stop was St. Andrews golf course, the oldest in the world. The bus actually drove through the middle of the golf course to get to the parking lot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some headstones at St. Andrews Cemetery were judged unstable, so have fencing around them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had some free time, so I got a Cheese and Tom\u00e4to Toastie (grilled cheese sandwich), and was able to break a \u00a320 note, getting \u00a31 and \u00a32 coins in change — useful for handing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few doors down, I saw a (probably college) student give a scone and converse briefly with a man soliciting donations. As I’ve said before, the only true beauty is that of the soul (and ugliness likewise). She had done a beautiful thing. After she moved on, I went up and put a coin in his bowl. The man said thanks, that was the first one of the day. There were only a few copper coins in the dish, no bi-metal ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a sandwich to eat, so I ate next to him, and got to chat. Derek was originally from Dundee, but had gotten kicked out of his place there for some disqualification that I didn’t understand. He said that a man had a place for him, but needed \u00a3200 by today or else the place would be given to someone else. I asked him how he could get in on a deposit, alone. Was there no income check? He said something about rent being paid a ? benefit, which I also didn’t understand. “So, once you’re in, you’re in?” I asked, and he confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He greeted and tried to engage most of the people passing by. (Oddly, he had not addressed me as I passed by.) Most didn’t acknowledge him, but to those that did, he usually said “Thanks anyway,” “God bless you,” or some other well-wish. Three people gave him bi-metal money within the space of a few minutes, and when each of these had moved on, Derek retrieved the high-value coins and put them into a separate bag he had in is lap. The bag seemed rather heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I noticed was that in my few days’ experience here, is that panhandlers have an exceedingly polite way of addressing people, even when declined, and that those passing by are also polite. Not once did I hear anyone make any derisive remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked whether I might take his picture with his sign, to which he gladly consented. He also asked whether I might post the picture somewhere to ask others for donations. But how would any such person get back to him, I asked. He offered his phone number, and asked whether I had a phone, but I truthfully told him I have no service, I’m not from around here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you’re looking for him, he said he’d be there every day. On South St. in St. Andrews, not far from the ATMs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some parts of what he said were suspect (detectives, can you spot the at least 3 holes in his story?), but it was hard to deny that his circumstances were severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Food share booth by St. Andrews Cathedral. What a great idea!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We stopped at this stand for what they call “soft fruit.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gordon said that their local strawberries were the best flavored. They were small by US standards, but rich in flavor (not sugar sweet), reminiscent of wild strawberry in Colorado.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Probably at least 2 dozen commemorative locks on the bridge over the River Tay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We did a forest walk with an arborologist (UK term, something like an arborist).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Birnham Oak, possibly the most famous tree in the UK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had some free time, so I got a Cheese and Tom\u00e4to Toastie (grilled cheese sandwich), and was able to break a \u00a320 note, getting \u00a31 and \u00a32 coins in change — useful for handing out. A few doors down, I saw a (probably college) student give a scone and converse briefly with a man … Continue reading St. Andrews and the Birnham Oak<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/si2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}