A day in the country

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1573-a

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Colin Douglas, doctor and novelist

Edinburgh

A picture window faces north east. Through the morning, skyscapes come and go: dark rain-clouds, uncertain cumulus, sudden clear blue. Far from the bustle of the city, we sit at ease. When I was a houseman, my colleague for today was our senior student: a diffident, kindly young man. I ask after his father: “A bit sore from running for a bus. Probably shouldn't have. Of course he's 92.” And now we too talk of retirement.

Outside, seagulls, starlings, …