Strange how you take things for granted and familiar things gets ignored, like the view from my window.  I overlook the river Ness from my third story flat, close to the town centre, and I suppose I’m really lucky to have view like that.

Seals are regular visitors, right outside my flat, well in the river at least.  I’ve seen otters swimming past and salmon leaping.  Once I actually saw an Osprey, hovering level with my lounge, then it dived into the water and grabbed as trout.  How many people can see that kind of thing whilst standing in their lounge?

On the darker side I’ve also seen a couple of bodies pulled out.  The Ness is sometimes the scene of suicides.  When anything like that happens the place is full of police and helicopters hover where once there was an osprey. If only so much attention had been paid to the poor soul in the water before they jumped in perhaps they’d never have found life so unbearable.  Fortunately suicides are rare.

The river is like a living thing, it changes all the time and sometimes it threatens to engulf the streets on its bank when torrents of rain fill Loch Ness to bursting.  I’m glad I’m on the third floor when that happens.  It the water ever laps at my front door we’ll all be in serious trouble.

I never tire of watching the Ness although I’ve lived here over ten years.  Everyone sees something different out of their window and what you see perhaps depends on how you look.  Some people see industrial streets but Lowry once looked on those streets and saw paintings that will live on for hundreds of years. 

I suppose it all depends how you look.

What’s out of your window?