the hielands

The weekend had us in the scottish highlands, skipping through the hills at Big Ben's toe's. (Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the UK, Steve and I enjoyed two days of rest, rain, and adventure just around the corner from it in Fort William.) Opening my eyes to the creative landscape surrounding us, I was astounded, shocked, made to smile.
We have had a handful of pleasant days together, several sub-surface conversations, and many memorable moments (he took me clubbin', I took him hiking; he bought me nice pub meals, I bought him day old bagettes and discounted cheese; he taught me some of the intricacies of the game of golf, I shared some of my favorite poems). Steve left for Berlin this morning to meet some friends - he'll be back for the night Friday then U.S.-ward on Saturday. (Steve has a digital camera, we've been using it, pictures coming asap..)
Meanwhile, I'm leaning back into a bit of the routine I've established in Edinburgh and enjoying its familiarity. I find this such a lovely city to look at.

Finished reading Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" while sitting in my bunk in the Highlands - having walked that day amongst the glens and lochs and forrested lands that make up the setting of the narrative made the read a special one.
Strolling now slowly, carefully through Frederick Buechner's "The Magnificent Defeat" -- and with his words I depart the realm of the web for the present..

"My question is this: Are there in us, in you and me now, that recklessness of the loving heart, that wild courage, that crazy gladness in the face of darkness and death, that shuddering faithfulness even unto the end of the world, through which the new things can come to pass? Are there in us such qualities as these, which are in fact themselves the first glimmerings of the new things that even now are beginning to come to pass?"