i've just come down from the isle of skye.....
Posted: Monday, 04 July 2005 |
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Eustis is about 60 kms NW of Orlando. Hello Ramblin Rose, We visited Colonsay for our honeymoon trip about 20 years ago. It's unfortunate that so many of the purer places have fallen prey to excessive tourism. I remember around 2:00 a.m. in Oban, I believe, we boarded a ferry going to Colonsay. We waited for the 200 or so sheep to disembark, for the crew to sanitize the decks with the most pungent of disinfectants, singularly a most unforgetable smell. I wasn't sure which odiferous sensation I would have preferred. Even now as I write this the memory traces of that disinfectant seem so real. The sea was rough. We bounced about like Mexican jumping beans in a large tin. The journey, which at first seemed never ending, resulted in a disembark and drive to, I believe, the island's only hotel. We spent several weeks there. Our memories are those, perhaps romanticized, of long leisurely walks, romantic sits, thinks, and conversations overlooking the sea. Trips to the post and gas station at the dock, treks to the monastery ruins and Oransay, the single malts at dinner time, the school house atop the hill bringing it's students the opportunities which would shape their lives all are as alive now as they were then. We twice had driven around the island. Here we met the sentry, the keeper of all things good, the protector of the island's peaceful way of life, standing in the midst of the road allowing none to pass. We stopped;he stodgedly approached us, sternfaced and deliberate in every step. As he approached the passenger side of our vehicle, my wife, caught in the spirit of the moment, unsure what fate lay in her waite, rolled up the window. There he stood, not uttering a word, almost snorting at my wife's defiance of his huge presence. Slowly she lowered the window. His breath was felt on her cheek. As he leaned forward my wife scratched his nose; a snort, which shook the entire car including our consttution, bellowed and resonated across the island. After no short time, after not speaking a word, he backed away and allowed us to pass. We had the audacity to snap his photo, which we proudly display in our wedding book, and vividly relive our meeting of the "protective stranger". Thanks for the opportunity to relive this journey. A side note: we had wanted to buy the only piece of property for sale at the time, but were told that family lines were given first refusals. Perhaps had we bought it, our romantic memories would not be such as they are. And... they are indeed wonderful. It would be great if you could e-mail some recent photos of the island. I would like to hear from you. Our e-mail address is: ytyt86l@comcast.net (the letter after 86 is a lower case "L"). I trust your wash machine has been repaired. In Friendship, Ty and Linda Caine P.S. Do you know who the "Protective Stranger" is?
Ty from Eustis, Florida, USA
the de'il is in the detail
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