Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

Basking sharks are now breeding in the waters in Scotland, according to this piece. It describes, quite nicely, how the sharks swim nose-to-tail during courting, and makes it all sound very pleasant and wonderful – but the fact is these are sharks in our waters, and that’s an idea I’m not hugely fond of. In fact, as much as I’m intrigued and interested by the piece, for in a way it is quite nice – in another, it is quite scary.

I watched Jaws when I was younger, as I’m sure lots of people did, but ever since, I’ve had a thing about going out into the sea. The sort of thing where I just don’t really do it. Even though I know it’s very, very unlikely that there will be a shark in the sea, right there where I am, right when I am swimming, it’s the thought that it could happen that puts me off.

And until now, I have always had the slight consolation that there probably aren’t sharks in our waters. But now it’s more probable that there are absolutely tonnes of them!

If it’s true that fish have table manners (which, in itself, is a bit more of an appealing idea than sharks swimming around in the sea near me), then maybe that trend extends all the way to their flesh eating, gigantic brothers of the ocean.

Then again maybe not. Call me a wuss, but I’ll just have to avoid swimming in the sea for a while, I think.

Sometimes, I can lack dedication. Sometimes.

When I’m writing, for example; when I set out to do a story, instead of finishing it quickly, I can fall into the habit of taking days to finish it; chipping away at it until it’s complete. Or, similarly, when it comes to graphic design and photo manipulation, often it doesn’t take very long to do the work – so I put it off, sometimes needing constant reminders to get down to doing it. There’s always something else to do.

Sometimes, I can lack dedication.

Dedication, though, is one thing this man does not seem to lack. And as a result, his kitchen now houses a 50 foot hole just so he can get down to a river to fish. So it’s pretty beastly; it’s not just any old hole. In fact, it’s so deep that he had to hire 30 villagers for 6 months in order to get it done. And now he can fish, and he is earning money doing it.

Quite an interesting story, I thought. And quite an interesting demonstration of dedication.