daring to follow the path

This week’s photo challenge, path, takes me down an unusual path — crossing the man-made causeway at the Brough of Birsay in the Orkney Islands. It was an exercise in patience, as we had to get a list of the tides and schedule our visit around low tide. It was worth the wait. We couldn’t get enough of the history of places such as this…I feel like traveling through Scotland the way we did, staying in places for several days at a time, gave us a taste of the present day, and a yearning to learn more of the past.

We often think of our lives as filled with paths — choices taking us down unique adventures looking toward the future. This vacation was both, as John and I made new memories for ourselves as we went down paths to the past that shaped the future. That’s a lot of time travel there. 🙂

Here’s some more from our visit:

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Happy Festivus, Friends!

This made-up holiday, Festivus, made its way into my heart at the height of my hysteria to get everything right at Christmas. Such pressure.

Such foolishness.

The only thing I need to get right about Christmas is the miracle of Christ’s birth. Everything else is gravy, or tinsel. Or both.

Festivus, in its own weird way, reminds me to chill out — Christmas is almost here, and it’s not about the tree, or the gifts, or the madness.

Well. A little madness. Family madness, feats of strength, good food. And expressions of gratitude mixed in with the airing of grievances.

 

Anticipation, a weekly photo challenge

anticipating that first little flame

After a long period of anticipation, John and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Scotland. One of our favorite places was an active archeological site called The Scottish Crannog Centre. We both became enamored with archeology and pre-historic cultures early in our marriage. Long separations during military duty meant a lot of reading and sharing of books back and forth. One of those, a series that starts with Clan of the Cave Bear, introduced us to early cultures and our fascination grew. The crannog was one of many archeological sites we visited, all of them in exquisitely beautiful locations. Well. Just about any location in Scotland is exquisitely beautiful. Seriously.

The site is gorgeous.

Above, our guide filled us with anticipation as we watched him work to start a fire. That first little plume of smoke was exciting, as he gently blew and coaxed the little ember to life. Here are a few more photos of the adventure:

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