We're world news

 A very sad event has propelled the island of Lewis, and specifically the beach at Tolsta to international headlines. Fifty-five pilot whales beached themselves on the one-and-half mile long beach, 15 miles north of Stornoway, early on Sunday morning. All but one died. It was thought that one female became distressed whilst giving birth, and ended up in shallow waters as the tide went out. Fifteen survived the intial strandings, one was helped back out to sea, but the others had to be euthanised. It is thought to have been the biggest stranding of whales in the United Kingdom for 70 years. 

I love Tràigh Mhòr Tolastadh, to give the beach its Gaelic name. The cetaceans appear to have come aground on the southern portion of the beach, near the cemetery. Many's a time I've ambled down its sands, head in the wind - and in company as well. But there will now be a sad edge to a future revisit. 

J-land @ 20

Eighteen years ago, I joined a group of people from the USA and the UK who were bloggers. We had a great time, interacting through comments on blogposts; We would share our lives on line, with photographs, images of all sorts. Joys, sorrows, births, deaths and marriages. I think at one time, I would write more than a dozen posts a day. My blogs were called Northern Trip (until October 2008), Atlantic Lines (until October 2018) and now A Cobbled Road. We were friends, are still friends of course. Some sixty bloggers have passed away over the past twenty years since AOL J-land was set up. To the best of my knowledge. 

Blogging has fallen by the wayside. I only see half a dozen blogs still posting regularly. Everybody else has gone to Facebook, myself included. I sometimes post here in order not to feel constrained by Facebook's setup. Nonetheless, J-land does live on, albeit in a different form. I hope for many more years to come.