Town Mouse

The art of embarrassment

THIS week took Town Mouse to Edinburgh for the first time in nearly two years. The centre of the city feels like a gigantic building site, with great swathes of road dug up to lay tram lines and stationary traffic everywhere. Nevertheless, it was exhilarating to be back.

It helped that the weather turned out to be perfect: as I emerged from Waverley Station, the lateafternoon sun dipped below the clouds and—with a Midas-touch—transformed the last hour of a gloomy day into a golden evening. I took the opportunity to walk up to the castle and survey the city before wandering down the Royal Mile, which is again populated by tourists.

The week also brought with it our first face-to-face parent’s evening in the same period. We gathered for the occasion in a large school hall and moved between teachers according to a carefully constructed timetable. It was a surprisingly enjoyable occasion, in part simply because everyone present was delighted to be able to speak in person again, rather than through the medium of screens.

The only awkwardness was that, by merely appearing in the presence of school friends, parents were liable to be excruciatingly embarrassing to their children. I had forgotten quite how absurdly easy— and amusing—it was to exercise this talent.