Ugly Bug Ball

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 533.

SAD

Aberdeen, on the east coast of Scotland, has done well out of North Sea oil. But its people have a problem in the winter. They are nearly 60 degrees north and on top of that, almost the whole city is built in granite, a grey stone which just soaks up the little light available. And it is this lack of light (not the cold wind) which researchers blame for depression in the city. They estimate that as many as 20% of the people there suffer from a condition known as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder some of them so seriously that they become suicidal.

In face, SAD has increased all over Britain in the past two decades. Changed living and working patterns mean that people spend far less time outdoors than they used to, and so experience less daylight than they used to.

One small indication of the generally benign nature of British geography is the fact that even the mosquitoes are relatively harmless - almost nobody bothers to take precautions against their bites.

There is, however, a notable exception in one part of Britain -the Scottish Highlands. This is the territory of a cousin of the mosquito, the midgie (some people say 'midge'). Midgies are much, much smaller than mosquitoes. But they are fiercer and there are many, many more of them, usually in 'clouds' around your head!

Midgies make picnics in the highlands a gamble, camping uncomfortable and outdoor cocktails impossible. You know the image of the British always moaning about the weather. Well, Highlanders are always moaning about the midgies. Recently, one group of Highlanders decided to abandon the struggle and celebrate instead. They held the world's first midgie festival, including an Ugly Bug Ball, a 'midge-summer night's party' featuring a mardi-gras style procession with midgie masks. The organizers claimed that, in their tenacious single-mindedness (when they go after you, they get you), midgies were 'a brilliant symbol for our country [Scotland]'.

//The texts and tasks are based on the book by James O'Driscoll Britain //