The week began with a fresh fall of snow. I dusted down the old wooden sledges that sit on the top shelf in my kitchen and raced up to 
Blackford Hill to enjoy once again the childish adventure of sledging down a smooth white slope. The sharp east wind brought snow showers and blue skies at ten minute internals in the constantly changing drama that is our northern weather.
Guests from Uganda, staying at a friend’s house near the Hill, were astonished to see snow for the first time. They must have thought they had landed on a different planet. And this sensation of other-worldliness has been the theme of the week.
I was to meet the Ugandans later in the week. The Watoto Children’s Choir, from Uganda, were giving a truly global performance of gospel songs and dances in the very Scottish surroundings of Liberton Kirk. Here was the Livingstonian legacy – now in its 200th year – coming back at us in a completely different form, from the other world of Africa.
Photo credit: Catholic Church (England and Wales) (Creative Commons)
The arrival of a new pope in Rome on Wednesday – from yet another world – had a particular significance in Scotland. The Catholic church here is currently in purgatory after the shock resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien in a gay sex scandal. But there is a feeling that Pope Francis will allow the church to make a fresh start. Alex Salmond said as much when he gave the new pope his blessing at first minister’s questions time.
There is, though, one awkward point. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is in favour of the Islas Malvinas becoming part of Argentina, despite last week’s referendum in the islands. So I think it’s time the SNP spelt out its policy on the Falklands. Would an independent Scotland support the islanders in wanting to remain British ? And what about the Shetland islanders, if they voted in our referendum next year to remain British ?
I only raise these disturbing questions to highlight the fact that so much of international politics these days is about oil. We were given another example of it this week with the publication of the SNP government’s predictions on “Scotland’s oil”. The first “Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin” suggested that tax revenues from the oil fields in Scottish waters would total £57bn over the next six years. That compares with the Westminster government’s estimate of just £31bn.
Alex Salmond says his experts’ estimate is based on the oil industry’s own predictions, following a “boom year” in North Sea investment. The opposition parties say the SNP are using “fantasy figures” to suggest Scotland would be wildly rich after independence. They point to the volatility of oil revenues and say leaked cabinet papers admit that there will still be “tough choices” to be made on government spending after independence.
The UK defence secretary Philip Hammond entered the debate from the deck of the new aircraft carrier being built in Rosyth. Wearing his hard hat, he claimed that the Scottish shipbuilding industry would not survive independence and suggested Scotland’s defence forces would be reduced to “half a submarine and part of a Red Arrow”. The SNP said that was rich, coming from the man who was cutting Scotland’s share of the returning army of the Rhine from a promised 6,000 soldiers to just 600.
How these adult arguments go down with 16 and 17 year olds we will soon find out. This week the Scottish parliament began work on the legislation that will give them the vote in next year’s referendum. However the opinion poll experts tell us that young people’s views differ little from those of their parents, despite what the SNP might hope.
Another contribution to the independence debate this week came from the ever-adventurous advertising department of Irn Bru. It involves a staunchly Scottish father greeting his daughter’s “new fella” from England and his bulldog called Wembley. “Irn Bru get’s you through” is the reassuring catch phrase.
And continuing the theme of “other worlds”, Edinburgh’s International Science Festival is about to launch itself for the Easter school holidays with much to say about rockets and Mars. And the Arts Festival in the summer has just announced its programme with a distinctly universal theme. Among the highlights will be “Leaving Planet Earth” a spectacular show being staged in a disused quarry, now a rock climbing centre on the western outskirts of town. There will also be a version of Beethoven’s Fidelio set on board a doomed spaceship hurtling away from Earth.
I think, though, I’d rather remain on this planet. There are enough worlds contained within this strange, strange world to satisfy my sense of adventure.