This morning has been a joy. I woke up early in order to fry up a full cooked breakfast, and a flask of excellent PNG coffee from Braithwaite’s, to take to the botanic gardens. The walk down was bracing and sleety along the riverside, past the sports grounds and the airport, up the hill to the gardens. The breakfast was of course not purely for my own enjoyment and delectation, it was to be delivered to my friend and ever intrepid zoologist Stefan. He has been braving the bitter Dundonian climate to research bird feeding behaviour in the botanic gardens most mornings for many weeks. I located him between a set of european pine trees in a tiny camouflaged tent patiently watching a small plastic tray full of mealworms. At the point at which i appeared avian fauna had yet eluded my friend this day so we decided to go enjoy our breakfast in the workshop. In a small, well insulated greenhouse we knelt on the floor around a flaking wooden table and tucked into the wonderful fare that is a full cooked breakfast; still warm might I add. Amidst good chat and happy stomachs we enjoyed our time, and considered the future, past university that is. Ahh but the day must continue of course, we finished up the last of the breakfast and headed out, parting ways at the gate. I wandered happily back admiring Perth road in all its finest suburban leisure, listening to my book of the moment – ‘the picture of Dorian Gray’ (interesting so far) in anticipation of the goal ahead of me, the finest greengrocers in all of Caledonia, Fraser’s.

And so here I am, back at my flat after having chowed down on the sweet sharp ecstasy of several Sicilian blood oranges (like a perfect mixture of both art and food, mosaic both in taste and composition) staring out at Magdalen green and the indeed silvery tay from the window at our dining table, which has become for me, nothing short of a mere slice of heaven.

All these things I feel with the joy and contentment of the love of my father in heaven, which makes even the oranges, all the more sweet.

“Go eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved that you do.” – Ecclesiastes 9:7

Replace bread and wine with blood oranges and coffee, in that is found the joy of my morning.