scottish summer

i returned to scotland, principally to see cousin judith getting married to jonathon.  after the ceremony, everyone repaired to the grounds of a castle lying midway between perth and dundee, to spend the evening enjoying a meal together before dancing a ceilidh.  jenny had been kindly invited, and i was glad to have the opportunity to invite her along to the most dashing of scottish traditions.  all the menfolk wore attractive skirts, while jenny had brought a traditional bavarian dress, in which she looked great.

seeing as jenny was in scotland, i gave myself the task of giving her a fair representation of what people mean when they say bonny scotland.  the ruins of findlater castle weren't a bad place to start.  jenny had her trusty video recording device and whipped it out in moments of particular charm, to capture a whiff of the scene.

i painted "i looked into the fire . . . and saw the light" on the wall of duinish bothy.  i conceded that it could come across as a bit pretentious, but at the same time those words had struck a deep chord in me; i paid attention to the poetic worth of the phenomenon of light.  to see the light in the bothy fire was to see that sitting round it was an eminently magical experience, connected to the source.  looking into the centre of the radiant fountain of beauty - perceived by and applied throughout the heart - is implied by penetratingly visually apprehending the light.

         

 light!       

 jenny said, at any rate, it was a bit loftier and bonnier than the scrawlings and etchings of names, which otherwise amply adorned the bothy wooden panelling.

we arrived at bow fiddle rock sometime after sundown.

i scarce remember luibleathann looking so lovely set amidst august waves of heather awash with their deep bright violet bellbloom

 we hitch-hiked to the west coast and were struck by just how idyllic and picturesque our cabin was sitting atop a crag with a window looking across the sea to wiggly island shapes, criss-crossed by the serene flights of seagulls, kittiwakes, terns, gannets, etc.

sunset over cullen bay