My two brothers and their partners joined Batman and I on a two week adventure to Scotland. We had never traveled together as adults. It’s odd, but it feels like if I try to write much about it, it will lose its magic and wonder and preciousness.
So here’s the briefest of context. We started out by self piloting a narrowboat on the Union Canal. We went through the Falkirk Wheel, the Falkirk Tunnel and over an aqueduct on our three day journey.
Then we spent a night in Oban on our way to the Isle of Skye.
We had three days on the Isle of Skye, quite a gorgeous place.
Then on to a week at a self catering cottage in Rothiemurchus, at the heart of the Cairnhorns National Park. (I squealed with delight when I saw Hannah Nunn’s post “in the pines” just a few days before our departure.)
The weather was absolutely amazing. We spent our last day in Edinburg, where rain finally caught up with us. We had fretted a bit about our return flight due to the hurricane, but the travel elves kept us safe.
along the Quiraing walk.
We spent as much time outdoors as we could, walking, hiking, birding, catching up with one another’s lives along the way.
We got takeaway, we dined in pubs and fine restaurants and had picnics on the trail. We cooked and baked in our wee kitchens. We drank “whiskey and wine” and I had so much delicious fish!
I’ll remember the misty mornings along the canal, where I fell asleep at night to the swaying of the water at our moorings and all of the lush green foliage cascading over the canal banks. I’ll remember the cows grazing and the amber bales of fresh cut hay in the fields. I’ll remember the lovely folks who biked and walked along the tow paths, many with sweet dogs, ready to say “hiya!” as we passed one another. And chatting out by the tiller, with whoever was piloting the boat at the time.
I’ll remember the hard, rocky hikes with the totally-worth-it-views at the end. I’ll remember the taste of cold water when I need to stop and catch my breath along the trail. I’ll remember just gazing at the horizon or tilting my head to the sky, exhaling and being fully present, over and over again.
I’ll remember the soft pine needles underfoot in the ancient forests, the scent of freshness and decay all rolled into one…earthiness. The rocks and the moss and the ferns and the lichen and the birds. The trees. The trees. The trees. And the lochs.
And the fun of having days and days with Batman and my brothers and their partners.
What a gift. What a gift.
xo