Scotland
Frequently it’s said that “it was a dark and stormy night” but never that it was a dark and stormy day. Storm clouds bring dramatic skies with “god-light” streaming down to paint the land in shades of gold. Rainbows bridge the horizon uniting sea and sky. This was our day: cloudy with sunny periods and fleeting squalls of rain. And then there was the ever present wind, not just a gentle breeze or even frequent gusts but a hat snatching white-cap producing blast. As A.A. Milne would say, “it was a blustery day.”
So what does one do on a day like today? Unexpectedly we found ourselves off the coast of Lewis, in the Hebrides approaching the harbor of Stornoway. The light glistened off of a row of white houses lining the waterfront and bounced along masses of pink rhododendrons to a castle nestled on a wooded hill. Slowly the town awakened and welcomed our inquiring eyes. Our numbers scattered seeking solitude or shopping. Some returned with items made of famous Harris tweed, manufactured only here on the Isle of Lewis. Others captured images to share with friends and family or just to treasure as memories from Scotland’s distant shore.
One cannot help but marvel at the determination of a population to create greenery for themselves. In a land devoid of trees for many a millennium, planting a tree and making it grow takes decades of proper planning. The presence of the Gulf Stream and its warming waters is alone not enough for a forest to grow especially on the Inverewe Peninsula where the wind whips the tops from waves encrusting the edges of the land with salty crystals. Something more than sodden peaty soil is needed too. Thanks to Osgood Mackenzie and more than a hundred years of planning and planting we found ourselves in resplendent beauty throughout the afternoon. Warmth radiated from the walled garden where berries and vegetables grew alongside drifts of colorful flowers emitting delicate fragrances. Tall pines sheltered exotic species of every shape and form from countries far and wide. Delicate blossoms washed by the rain retained droplets that sparkled like diamonds in the sun which escaped from cracks in the clouds.
Washed by the sea, we returned from the shore to our welcome warming showers. Outside the wind continues to blow but we know now that it takes more than a blustery day to ruin our show.
