Scottish Beauty
The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England! Samuel Johnson
If you’ve ever known unhappiness, how will you know you’re happy?
How wonderful when dreich, cold-damp mornings metamorphose into bright, warm and sunny afternoons. We are thrice blessed when there’s no shabby weather at all.
Fellow traveller in a harsh money-focused world
Yesterday was a case in point. Heading for meeting in the Scottish Borders from my beloved East Neuk of Fife, I travelled by train.
Next to me, a young man sat somehow screwed-up against the window. Knotted in his unnatural foetal position my fantasies about his situation were all bad.
I started to imagine what must have befallen him:
- drug overdose
- severe stomach bug
- thrown out of home
- escaped from a secure unit … from suicide watch
- newly bereaved
- aghast at the thought of having to make conversation with an old stager
Later, I learned his situation in an unexpected way.
Beautiful city
Edinburgh Waverley Station is a grand place to change trains, the more so on a glorious day. There was time to spare, so I scaled the Waverley Steps and took a video panorama of the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSU0CHHcarM?rel=0]
Beautiful borderlands
Back on the train, I found a seat facing forwards and set-off on the recently rebuilt rail line to Tweedbank. If you ever get the chance, take it. Samuel Johnson was wrong, for there are equally noble prospects along high roads … without having to leave Scotland – here is proof:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kqBQXDvhY0?rel=0]
My tragic young man … journey’s end
At Galashiels, I saw my young man get off the train. We’d travelled together farther than we knew. In his scruffy, ill-fitting clothes, he rushed into the arms of lovely young woman with a dog. Their happiness was as bright as the day, and I knew, whatever happened next, today is as good as it gets.
Many more todays for us all, please.
© Mac Logan