Speyside Way - Day 1 - part 2
Continued from Speyside Way - Day 1 - part 1.
Nor will you be spared yet another attempt to capture the sway and curve of the earth - that slow geological dance whose movement we don’t see but sense in the shape of things…I had hoped that the road curve and fence curve would convey the curviness of the earth. It didn’t work but was for me a fun attempt.
And yes I do need to get myself back to bed (have you noticed I am as obsessive about blogging as writing? Because it gives me joy. Thank you so much for reading and responding and making that joy possible. )
Or this ruined barracks - one that the British built to defend against the Jacobite uprising. At one point the Scots took control of it, but they had already lost the war. When they asked their king what to do he suggested that every man do what he could to get himself safely home. So they wrecked the barracks as best they could and abandoned their war. When I saw these ruins I was strangely moved by them. I wanted them to be something important - like MacBeth’s castle (back in Inverness - I barely glanced at it feeling so overwhelmed by the city noise and movement and complexity). I still wonder - maybe an ancestor of mine was there? And had sweet memories of those final moments with his comrades at arms and his dreams for Scotland? It did tug at my heart.
And finally just for fun the daffodils at the train station and the photo of a kitten that had me believing there was an actual kitten inside that “train” until I looked closer.
Enough. Thank you for walking with me. Tomorrow we head north - and into colder and grayer weather - toward Grantown-on-Spey.
Okay friends. I need to go back to bed (after someone mistaking the middle of the night for morning when I looked at my watch). So let’s pick one or two photos that show how much I enjoyed the walk and let it go at that. I hope you enjoyed going through all those gates with me. Who knows what mysteries of regulation and navigation we were exploring symbolically as we moved through them?
I have not in my fascination with gates been unfaithful to bridges. An early part of the walk was beside the train track and I enjoyed the train bridges. This one in particular intrigued me. Look at that slanted stone work!
And you aren’t going to get away without a few lively trees dancing their slow motion dance.
Nor will you be spared yet another attempt to capture the sway and curve of the earth - that slow geological dance whose movement we don’t see but sense in the shape of things…I had hoped that the road curve and fence curve would convey the curviness of the earth. It didn’t work but was for me a fun attempt.
And yes I do need to get myself back to bed (have you noticed I am as obsessive about blogging as writing? Because it gives me joy. Thank you so much for reading and responding and making that joy possible. )
But how about this Scottish horse?
Or this ruined barracks - one that the British built to defend against the Jacobite uprising. At one point the Scots took control of it, but they had already lost the war. When they asked their king what to do he suggested that every man do what he could to get himself safely home. So they wrecked the barracks as best they could and abandoned their war. When I saw these ruins I was strangely moved by them. I wanted them to be something important - like MacBeth’s castle (back in Inverness - I barely glanced at it feeling so overwhelmed by the city noise and movement and complexity). I still wonder - maybe an ancestor of mine was there? And had sweet memories of those final moments with his comrades at arms and his dreams for Scotland? It did tug at my heart.
And finally just for fun the daffodils at the train station and the photo of a kitten that had me believing there was an actual kitten inside that “train” until I looked closer.
Enough. Thank you for walking with me. Tomorrow we head north - and into colder and grayer weather - toward Grantown-on-Spey.
Thinking about your gates as boundaries. Boundaries that aren’t boundaries are a dream theme for me. Splintered doors on houses I am in or my accidentally walking through other peoples houses. I like the idea of a gate as a boundary. One that someone else could open and forget to close but still an indication that this is a clearly defined boundary.
ReplyDeleteI love how you think (and dream!) I have so wanted dreams as part of this pilgrimage. Caught my first tiny fragment last night - sending messages to a friend who answered by shining lights. Being on a boat that was fighting against America and exchanging rifle fire and winning because America was only looking at the high tech weapons and wasn’t paying attention to just individuals shooting at each other. Don’t have a clue how it pertains to the walk. I line your theme of boundaries thst aren’t boundaries. But I think for the bacteria, those portals were flexible and allowed a negotiated, constantly changing, nuanced relationship to the “other” I do love how you think.
DeleteOh, and this comment was from me - Nancy
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