The Green Isle of the Great Deep

I've barely been paddling all summer. It always seems to work that way. Other folk are out spotting whales and dolpins but summer always seems to mean other activities for me. I can count on one hand the number of times I've paddled with no cag on.
It certainly wasn't summer today- I had to scrape ice off the car in the morning. I was overdue a trip to the Isle of May, which is the loveliest paddling venue close to home.
It was still very green .

I stopped to chat to the RSPB warden. He spends 7 months of the year out here. It's probably as close as you can now get to a lighthouse keeper's way of life. Quite appropriate, really, as Scotland's first lighthouse (a coal fire on top of a tower) was here. He was having an "event" today. This turned out to be a visit from a dozen folk on a RIB. Living out here, that probably feels like an invasion.
The current lighthouse looks remarkably church like.

It's perched close to the craggiest part of Fife.

It's a good spot to watch the tide wrap round the island.