Hill Walking

As a way to discover a new(ish) town, a music festival isn't a bad idea. Walking back in the rain up the steep slope, we distracted ourselves from the effort by working out that we have now seen 5 performers in 5 different venues at 6 different performances. It works when you know that our last venue tonight featured the same act as our first, filling in for someone who did not make it - and actually they were better in the venue they were not scheduled for

Now we know where to go for best pizza, best bread, most bizarre bar decoration, most intimate theatre, and most deadly-looking drink: an expresso martini - need to check with my doctor if it is compatible with my heart pills. More tomorrow; by Monday we will be tour guides

No sublime music to report tonight, just good honest people turning in warm, engaging performances, but also an oddity. One band of three comprised electric piano, bass guitar and acoustic guitar; the acoustic guitarist is left-handed. A couple of times in the set, the guitarists switched roles, and chairs, but they only had one bass guitar!! The left-handed player simply played it upside down. For a moment this took me away from the music into brain function and personal history - the impact of left-handedness on everyday life. Who could know that one day this would be a useful skill? A different performer sang about witch-burnings in Ireland; there was a time when being left handed would mark you with suspicion. English co-opted the word 'sinister' from Latin because it means 'left' 

The rooks put on a display of aerial acrobatics over the estuary and town as we decended to our peripatetic evening. Similar to a starling murmuration, but is it called that if corvids do it? I know ravens can do the same thing, though I've never been lucky enough to see it. Make that 7 performances