Two weeks of noise, and the Government was re-elected. Voter apathy was reckoned to be the reason why things were so subdued. But one other factor in Scotland was that now we have a Parliament in Scotland too, handling what voters see as key issues of health, education, industrial development and so on, there was a feeling that the UK Parliamentary General Election just wasn’t so important.   And then, with regard to the issues that come under the London Parliament’s responsibility, there wasn’t very much happening in the country for voters to get all fired up about. Inflation’s nicely within target, unemployment’s gently falling, foot and mouth disease and train troubles are receding..... and just a suspicion that Britain’s all set for going into the Euro, now the Government’s been re-elected, has pushed the Pound down from its somewhat toppy heights - which only improves things for exporters from this country. And then people had some other things on their minds......

Summertime
Yes, as college and schoolkids emerge from examinations and look to the summer break (which starts somewhat earlier here than in the rest of the UK), everyone has started thinking what to do in the next three months. Of course, many will take the relatively short hop to Europe’s sun-and-culture spots. But, at the moment we’re still in a good run of sunshine and clear skies that’s encouraging people to eye the local summer events and attractions. Bang on 30 June starts the Glenmorangie Glasgow Jazz Festival running through to 8 July with a heady mix of top names and styles: bluesman Robert Cray to soulman Isaac Hayes, Jean Toussaint to Henri Tixier, the Brecker Brothers (together!) to Chick Corea..... and on (the full meaning of which can be derived by going to www.jazzfest.co.uk)

The last weekend of that coincides with this year’s T in the Park event for newer music, 7-8 July over at Kinross between Edinburgh and Perth, with a bill that once more shouldn’t disappoint. Full details on www.tinthepark.com. Main stage acts include Stereophonics, David Gray, Texas, Coldplay, Beck and Toploader but stage 2 and two additional tents won’t be ignored either, not with the likes of Catatonia, Wheatus, Laurent Garnier and Stereo MC’s - to mention just a few of the rest of the 100-plus artists for the event at what will be for one weekend Scotland’s biggest campsite.

Classical, dance and theatre fans go into a brief period of estivation - or whatever the summer equivalent of hibernation is - before the full blast of the Edinburgh International Festival in August. That said, they’re being kept awake a little longer right up to the start of July. The Royal Scottish national Orchestra’s annual summer Promenade Concerts, each catering for different tastes and young and old alike, ran in Edinburgh at the start of this month and now hit Glasgow up to the end. Talking of crossing over the years, Scottish Opera brings its renowned productions of Verdi’s Il Trovatore and modern Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Inés de Castro to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre, which then presents a stunning new staging of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet by the Northern Ballet Theatre at the end of June. Over in Glasgow, there’s even a production of Steve Martin’s comedy success, Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

OK, and then there’s the Edinburgh Festival - or festivals, to be more accurate. The big orchestral, theatre and dance names lined up for the International Festival have already been billed. But alongside it there’s also the Film Festival, and the massive, anarchic, something-for-everyone Fringe Festival - 666 companies from 50 countries performing 1,500 shows this time (full listings on edfringe.com) - and the world’s biggest book festival including appearances by 400 authors (Margaret Atwood, Peter Carey and Gore Vidal among them). Phew.

Standing stones
Amid all this frantic culture cacophony, many may just want to quietly contemplate something standing still. So it’s pretty timely that The National Trust for Scotland, a charitable institution caring for a total now of 127 sites of historical interest and natural beauty, is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary. Sure, there are castles and stately homes in its brief (you can even rent parts of some of these for the week), but there are also gardens and tiny weavers’ cottages, ocean-swept islands and even a typical Glasgow tenement with all its contents looking exactly as it might have been left in the early 1950s. For more information and links, go to visitscotland.com. The anniversary will mean that, in addition to the guides and plentiful information usually found at each of these sites, there will be a bit of an extra welcome for the Trust’s many visitors this year. But nothing too unsubtle or noisy. After all, one of the simple pleasures of many of these sites is to stand and enjoy the tranquillity and the atmosphere. As you can, for instance, at Culloden Field where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s dreams of becoming king, and his Highland army, were shattered finally. And where all now is, forever, at peace.