Speyside Way - Day 5 of 6 - part 2
Continued from Speyside Way - Day 5 of 6 - part 1
This second one was looking back probably southwest. But isn’t the sky remarkable? And what a blessing to have hours of walking along just to watch it in all its panoramic variety and changes. It had its own flow of cloud forms and light and wind just like the river has its flow of water.
What an amazing world we live in. And what a gift to walk and be reminded of the miracle of it all.
I was a wee bit disappointed that none of the trail today was close to the river. I was curious whether my experience of deep connection with the River Spey / an experience of being what I might call “flow-mates” - was a one-day fling or a lasting relationship. Of course it seems a silly question since I finish my walk tomorrow and will probably never walk alongside the Spey again after that. I guess i wondered if it was a connection that could be revisited whenever I walked along beside a river.
Despite the fact that the forecast had predicted no wind, no snow, and no sun for the hours I would be walking, in fact they were very much present. Snow (or sleet or hail) and fierce gusting winds alternated with warm brilliant sunlight and calm still air. It wasn’t as rapid an alternation as yesterday when there must have been dozens during my walk. This time there weren’t many more than a half dozen. I found myself talking to the clowns in the pub who design the weather and saying “you know, if you surprise us too much we will get used to it and we will no longer find it surprising to be surprised.”
One of the recurrent thoughts today as I walked was what a privilege it is to walk outside and see the whole panorama of the sky and watch it change. I have to say I am not accustomed to the kind of rapid change those Scottish weather design jokers and whisky lovers create in the weather here. By the way, the wordle today (spoiler alert STOP NOW and go play Wordle if you haven’t done so today and you want to) was a word I have been thinking so often these last few days and yet somehow I managed not to guess it! I even list my winning streak and can you believe it the word was JOKER. Those same pranksters in the pub get to choose the wordle words. This is definite evidence of a conspiracy.
But being able to see the sky - how radically different it is in different directions and from moment to moment. Look at these two photos of the same picnic table at the same moment (well, a very close by moment) just looking in different directions. The same sky. This first one is looking in the direction I was walking, Northeast.
This second one was looking back probably southwest. But isn’t the sky remarkable? And what a blessing to have hours of walking along just to watch it in all its panoramic variety and changes. It had its own flow of cloud forms and light and wind just like the river has its flow of water.
What an amazing world we live in. And what a gift to walk and be reminded of the miracle of it all.
I’m feeling a bit of self-pity right now. I had written most of this post - and had good fun writing it - and was putting a video in toward the end and adding it totally deleted all I had written. I happened to have a copy of this first part but all the rest I must re-invent.
I’ve just eaten a little too much dinner and feeling tired and ready for bed but I really want to share some of todays magic with you.
At one point I took four photos, one looking ahead on the trail (NE), one to my left (NW), one looking back (SW), and one looking to my right (SE). Four different skies, it seemed like.
I was a wee bit disappointed that none of the trail today was close to the river. I was curious whether my experience of deep connection with the River Spey / an experience of being what I might call “flow-mates” - was a one-day fling or a lasting relationship. Of course it seems a silly question since I finish my walk tomorrow and will probably never walk alongside the Spey again after that. I guess i wondered if it was a connection that could be revisited whenever I walked along beside a river.
The trail climbed a bit and did give a few lovely glimpses of the river from above, and also of the whole valley around it, and the Moray Firth (an inlet of the North Sea) into which it flows. I am so glad by the way that I walked the trail this way, in the direction the river flows, rather than the other way which is the usual way to walk it. As I look at the river flowing toward the sea I find it a beautiful and very soothing metaphor for the time when I too will “flow into the sea” - die as a separate living being and pour whatever remains of me into the larger community of living and non-living beings.
Despite the fact that the forecast had predicted no wind, no snow, and no sun for the hours I would be walking, in fact they were very much present. Snow (or sleet or hail) and fierce gusting winds alternated with warm brilliant sunlight and calm still air. It wasn’t as rapid an alternation as yesterday when there must have been dozens during my walk. This time there weren’t many more than a half dozen. I found myself talking to the clowns in the pub who design the weather and saying “you know, if you surprise us too much we will get used to it and we will no longer find it surprising to be surprised.”
I was going to insert here a short video of hail falling (thst invades the ping ping ping sound of the hard little
hailstones pummeling my body and the ground, but I don’t want everything deleted all I we again. But now I thought of a different way so let’s see what happens.
hailstones pummeling my body and the ground, but I don’t want everything deleted all I we again. But now I thought of a different way so let’s see what happens.
So soon after that it was sunny and bright again. Okay to be continued in Speyside Way - Day 5 of 6 -part 3.
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