DPP Day 8: Quiet Hours

I love my morning commute. Scotland in the winter only has about six hours of sun each day and most of my commute is made in darkness, with the early glimmers of what often become hour-long sunrises slipping into the sky as I draw near to Leuchars. The earliest portion of my commute involves a walk through half-awake Leith and up a slight hill to Waverley Rail station, which stands at the end of the German Christmas market that takes place in Edinburgh each December. At night, the market is abuzz with lights and laughter; in the morning it is empty and silent, lurking in the shadow of the Scott Monument on Prince's Street. I love the anticipation and restfulness of the market in the morning:

In other news, the fact that I was able to make my commute at all was a small miracle today, as I ended up on one of the last trains out of Edinburgh and arrived in St Andrews oblivious to the massive winter storm that was sweeping across Scotland. By the time I had finished teaching, most of the bridges out of Fife were closed, and it had become, for most intents and purposes, an island kingdom once again. (Fife's insular structure made it a high-profile potential point of attack in World War II, and some of the British defenses are still visible on beaches on the North Sea coast). One doesn't typically begin a daily commute with the intention of visiting the opposite side of one's country on the way home, but as the only way back to my husband was via Glasgow (and the lady behind the counter at the bus station told me that travel to Edinburgh was impossible) I took the requisite detour and eventually found my way back to Edinburgh, slightly battered by wind and rain along the way.