Scotland -- Day Seven (Travel Dreams)

Day seven was an uneventful day in a life – spent relaxing and laughing and dining with friends – and spent dreaming about what I might do while here, having come with no set itinerary and plenty of time, a rare luxury.

So much of yesterday was spent dreaming of Shetland – I could go later in the month for the annual Shetland Folk Festival (#15 on The Herald’s 100 Things to do in Scotland Before You Die  list [I’ve already some aspect of fifteen others on the list]).

Ailsa Craig

I’d take the train to Aberdeen and the ferry to Shetland, singing, clapping and stomping in rhythm to the music made by my imaginary new musician friends going over to play the festival.  And hoping against hope, I’d stay up to the wee hours every night I was there craving a glimpse of the northern lights.  I’d make my way to the northernmost point of Scotland (and hence Great Britain and the United Kingdom – a discussion on navigating the politics of naming we’ll leave for another day).  And I’d stand on Mavis Grind and throw a rock from the North Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (or is it the reverse?  I can’t recall - but it’s also on The Herald’s Top 100 list).

Reality sinks in as I check out distances and costs.  It’s rather dear (meaning expensive) to get from here to there.  I can actually get to Paris cheaper than I can get to Shetland from Ayr.  It’s frustrating: while Paris is lovely, it’s Shetland I want to aim for this time round.

But here’s the thing about travel: once you’re where you’re going, you actually have time to think about why you’re here in the first place.

Liz & Idris Crumlish at Rozelle House Tea Room

And while Scotland has some amazing places to see and things to do, I didn’t come for the tourism.  I came for the friends I’ve already made, the comforting places I’ve already been.

Sure I’ll do some new things along the way.  But those will be the icing.  The cake, you see, I’ve already gotten in the faces of friends too long not seen, voices too long not heard.  Some I’ve been to already, some I’ll be seeing in the coming weeks, all in their own time.

And that is blessing indeed.

Scotland -- Day Two

Rozelle House for lunch.  Beautiful grounds.  Tree so old and big that the multi-tonned sculptures around it look   merely temporary, a passing fancy in the grand design of things.

Currency exchanges negotiated, reminding me of the money changers in Iraq, so skilled in dealing with the cash economy of their time that you can scarce see the bills flying as they count, scarce hear the numbers as they rattle off, one after the other – they are never wrong.  The rarity of perfection – always amazing to me that I find it in the hands of the bankers.

Dinner with Zara and her friend Catherine, Liz, Idris and Catherine’s parents Anne and Graham.  Good food, good wine, good conversation and the fun of simply being in the presence of two teen-aged girls enjoying each other’s company and laughing at the joy of being alive in this now, right now, here now.

Walking home, Zara promises that I have been such a good guest that I can come along to visit with any of her pals – high praise, indeed – and I find myself laughing with the joy of being alive in this now, right now, here now.