Water of Leith

Near where we live in Leith is a waterway, a small river. It flows from the Pentland Hills in the south out to the Firth of Forth, the sea, to the north. It's an odd thing. There was once a railway that followed the Water of Leith, but now it's a footpath. This wooded footpath now snakes through the heart of the city, through densely populated urban areas. It's a strange oasis. When you're on one of the Water of Leith footpaths, you feel like you're a million miles away from the city -- until you hear the honking of a bus horn.

The Boy and I take the dogs for a walk on these paths on the weekend. The Water of Leith makes us feel less guilty for 'bringing up' our dogs right in the city centre, for we can walk them off the lead with no issue. Back in the US, we had loads of woodland paths and state parks around us, and we were able to take walks in so many cool places. I do miss that about North Carolina, and the Water of Leith is not even in the same ballpark, but it helps a little.

Today, Boy took Samantha on a jog and I was to meet him with Sarah further on a Water of Leith path. We were both feeling poorly (Sarah woke up with a limp -- she has two false hips, so she does that ocassionally after a hard day previous -- and my shoulder was killing me), so we didn't get too much of a hassle when we met Samantha and the Boy late at our destination. On the way to meet Boy, I spotted signs of wildlife about me. In the snow are fox footprints.
I know this because these footprints were on a parapet beside a bridge, about a 6-foot drop. No sane dog would do such a thing. A thin layer of ice still (!) existed on the water and duck foot prints were dotted about in it, much to my amusement. Maybe you will see them better in the close up.
We feel an odd sense of pride about the Water of Leith, as if we discovered it. So it makes it all the more sad when people litter about there. I've seen enough trashed bikes, Christmas trees, shopping trolleys, and dog turds to fill a landfill. I've even seen a burnt out car, right in the middle of the path. The funniest (or most pathetic) thing was that two cops in a car drove by it -- a car being a rare event indeed -- without batting an eyelash.

So the Boy has this amazing plan, if he ever was incredibly wealthy. He would hire people, from the myraid homeless around the city, to pick up rubbish from the Water of Leith, paying them by the bag. But his plan doesn't stop there. The second layer is very odd: he would hire only the most trusted of his homeless litter pickers to be followers. The followers would be very discreet and covertly watch for people to litter. If they spied such a thing, they would pick up the litter and follow the person who did it. Throughout the day, the follower would pick up every bit of litter that person dropped. When that person got home, the follower would then dump the rubbish in their garden, on their front door, or even push it through their letter box. Although innovative, this militant idea is sadly fraught with flaws and illegalities, and thankfully, we are not incredibly wealthy. Otherwise, I'd be bailing my cutely misguided husband out of jail with the wealth.

Since the day was so nice, the boy wanted the mark the day with a picture of me with the dogs. Sarah (in the red collar and smooth, short hair) hates pictures. With a passion. She always knows when a picture of her is being taken and turns her head away. She's like someone's grandma -- cos ever'body's gramma hates to have her picture taken. I had to wrestle with the dog just to get this one taken.