Fomenters of the Bifurcation of Spirit,

Dalgety Bay is a commuter town for the wealthy. The Fife Coastal Path may tease some as it weaves inland here and there past some of the largest, most functionalised houses in the Kingdom of Fife. The only thing I envy is the location; the coastal view, the walks, the wildlife in the bay, the woodland and fields.

Two shelducks picked over the mire that was the drained bay, out in the more appealing firth, yachtists less than 100 yards out saw what we could see from the bench on the shore; I did not envy their wind management travails.

St Bridget’s Kirk has stood from the 12th century, when it served the past village of Dalgety, its ruins are at least a notable landmark along the coastal path if not of significance to the masses. The kirk is very small and I imagine a compact band of religion fans glued together strongly and squeezed inside, perhaps that is a cliché. The detail has been washed and worn from the gravestones, I pondered the corallaries of this, raised tombs seem to act as benches for stopping walkers.

The themes of death and community spirit seemed to become more foremost in my mind as the day wore on. I had began the day passive and calm but tales of the paranormal then the two TV programmes I took in of that evening made an impression.

Martin Clunes’ Islands of Britain was amusing but it was mostly an hour of scenery with little depth, he didn’t really investigate island life all that much, apart from telling us all about how he admired the community spirit and the way people helped each other more than on the mainland, this is a given. The most interesting conversation was that Martin held with Stuart Hill, guardian of Forvik, the island, he proclaims now independent from the UK government but still under the subject of the UK monarchy. I find why he would make such a definition between the two baffling. Of course, he is campaigning for the rights of Shetland, and he has chosen to highlight this declaring his own island independent.

Life, Love and Death in a Day was on More 4:

In this Cutting Edge documentary, Sue Bourne tells the story of an ordinary day in modern Britain through the births, marriages and funerals that take place in one city over twenty-four hours.

The pain of the family, and particularly the older brother, who lost a son of only 26 years of age was difficult to watch. The programme doesn’t fill me with the urge to jump up and live every moment to its fullest, it just reminds me of the knowledge that we have to make the best decisions, treat people exactly right at every opportunity and value those who do so.