Thursday, June 20, 2013

Wonder-full,Endlessly Inspiring--the Northwest

Today was pretty much a car day except for all the stops to take photos; it easily took us twice as long as estimated for the drive! We left our B&B in Watten between Thurso and Wick by 9:00 and made it to our B&B (the best yet!) by 5:30. We were at dinner by 6:15. Before returning here to crash, I popped into a local bookstore to ask about a book of poetry by George Mackay Brown, an Orkney writer who captures the soul of the country--exquisite! He takes me there; I saw the book this morning as we stopped for morning tea at the Tongue Hotel in, yes, Tongue, on the northern coast toward the west. Like yesterday's blog, this will be mostly photographs because that was the activity of the day.
   The beginning of the day, watch how the terrain modulates...

  Sea


Bill and Mary en route to Smoo Cave, which has a waterfall inside!

Loch


Deer

A posing deer--a poseur?



    Endlessly inspiring, breath-taking, simply lovely beyond words--which is why this post is mostly           pictures, so you can experience some of it yourself.

 Wow! and Amen!






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2 comments:

  1. BobJune 20, 2013 at 3:39 PM

    The 12 hour flight back from Paris has blown all the music out of my head. Well, that and the nearly 24 hour day to make the journey from our apartment in the 7th Arrondissement (near the Eiffel Tower) to Charles DeGaul Airport (2 hours by Metro and bus), then through security, waiting and boarding (2 1/2 hours), the flight itself (11 1/2 hours from Paris to LAX, nonstop), disembarking and more security and waiting for luggage (1 1/2 hours), the shuttle ride to Union Station in downtown LA (1 1/2 hours), and at last the Metrolink train home to Oceanside (2 hours).

    No wonder I ain't got no songs today!

    But here's my favorite George Mackay Brown poem:

    A Work for Poets

    To have carved on the days of our vanity
    A sun
    A ship
    A star
    A cornstalk

    Also a few marks
    From an ancient forgotten time
    A child may read

    That not far from the stone
    A well might open for wayfarers

    Here is a work for poets-
    Carve the runes
    Then be content with silence.

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  2. JamesJune 21, 2013 at 11:25 AM

    Those are some absolutely stunning photos; I look forward to seeing the full size versions later!

    Such magnificent country, and I love Bobo's poem too. In that context it is so moving! Hope the book you bought has many other great works of his.

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