views into account, including those of sensitive and intelligent souls I particularly
respect, I have decided to change the text of the letter that I actually do send.
While I enjoyed writing the previous letter, and was delighted when other people
said they enjoyed reading it, perhaps enjoyment is not always the morally correct
criterion in communication.
I often refer to Ernest Hemingway's words on the art of writing. I paraphrase "One should
kill one's children." Hemingway's children are those sentences or turns of phrase of which
one is proud. Is anyone able to supply the proper quote?
Anyhow, I have appended the rephrased letter. If I manage to make it past the age of 70
I will permit myself the indulgence of sending the earlier letter, but claim senility. :-)
Dear Mr. and Mrs. <XXX>,
I notice that amongst the publicly distributed and collated submissions sent to Angus Council both for and against the development of the Carrach Windfarm, that you describe my house "Balintore Castle" as unsightly:
The (windfarm) project is well sited away from high hills and walking trails and is far more likely to attract visitors than the unsightly Ballintore (sp) Castle as recently featured on the STV news.
Please accept this letter as an invitation to visit Balintore Castle. I shall be happy to provide a personal guided tour of the building with refreshments. It gives me great pleasure to show people round a building that I am restoring. that I love and that I find beautiful.
Kind regards,
Dr. David Johnston
The attitude of some people really beggers belief sometimes, does'nt it ? I think your letter should leave them suitably embarrassed though.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see some more interior shots of the castle if you have time to post some :)
PS. Did you ever get to the bottom of the 'ugly' DVD ?
Thanks for the sympathy Chenda. I was chatting to a friend from Historic Scotland, and he said he had to deal with the "unsightly" comment all the time from members of the public. So perhaps I am lucky I don't have to do his job. We are still racing around while the current "summer" weather holds, fixing up the roof. I'll put some interior shots up when work moves indoors when things get too inclement. I never did get to the bottom of the "Ugly" DVD - I guess an "Ugly" movie evening is called for! :-)
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