Why is there a puffin on my blog's title?
It all began with a story in the shape of a diary. No!, wait, it actually began a few years ago, on the small island of Canna. It's a tiny stretch of land in the western isles of Scotland, with a fair share of legends, including a tower for a witch, a tomb for the King Norway, a secret treasure, a lost monastery and much more.
And that much more includes, of course, a tor where the local puffins have dug their summer palace. There, inside their dwellings they care for the next generation of birds.
I took the ferry from the quaint town of Mallaig. That was a little experience on itself, the ship was rather small, the atmosphere almost family like. There's something very special floating around in the literal Small Isles. That, or I was just lucky, for everyone was warm and friendly. Even that broken man, older than his years, returning to say sorry to someone.
I hope the best for him.
But I have come for the puffins, to see them fly around, maybe play with them, as you do with a puppy. The dreams you dream! Well, I got a lot of the first, none of the second. Puffins are friendly, but not that friendly. Anyway, they did approach my niece, and watching the scene as I lay on the grass was more that enough.
After that my interest in those sea birds only grew. You know they can fly for tens of miles, and back, to fish and feed their pufflings? That they have to dodge big gulls for their chicks? That the first they do when they meet their partner is to kiss them? That they take shifts to fish and care for the young?
Well that evokes me something very kind and warm. And that's why puffin is in the title of this blog
Oh!, and...
Because they are puffing kind, brave, hard-working, and cute. Just look!