How do you measure 365 days? 

I used to think the best way to measure the passage of time was my princess desk calendar. 

It was a pile of pink sticky notes shaped like a castle, with a day for each page, and sat pride of place on the desk in my childhood bedroom. It held all my notes; homework due dates, birthdays, ideas for books I never finished. All the things that felt like the most important things to keep track of.  

When I first moved out to this island, I relied on the boat timetable and the colours of the leaves to tell me where in the calendar I was. The months were suddenly dictated by tourist comings and goings and natural milestones like rutting season and the shearwater departure.  

For most of last year, I measured time in fruits and vegetables. When my son was the size of a tiny sesame seed, then a coconut, then a pumpkin. Each Friday, my pregnancy tracking app would refresh, and each Friday I’d see just how much he’d grown, each food a step closer to meeting him.  

If I still had those princess sticky notes this weekend, I’d be ripping off October 31st and looking at what is........

© Herald Scotland