The Feel of a Place

After much reviewing of my photographs from the weekend I spent in Skye, and then talking a walk around campus and a few side roads the other day, I have come to one resounding conclusion regarding this country. Photos just don't do it any sort of justice. Sure they're pretty, vast in scope and can give you an example of what its like to be here, but that's just it - you have to BE HERE to understand the true magnificence of this place. Pictures can't let you smell the wind, taste the air, feel the ground beneath your feet. Its something without compare.

It it through this conclusion that I am now set, more than ever, to get my parents up to Skye. No one can say they've lived without experiencing that place in all its potential glory. Even when the weather was so-so, the FEEL of the place was what really got me deep down. There is nothing comparable to the way the wind off the moors stirs your heart, the way seeing the landscape roll in person leaves you speechless, the way the smell of the heather and the sound of the land imprints itself in your mind. One cannot simply see pictures of a place and say they've been there, or "how beautiful" or "it looks like so and so..". Yes, some of the landscapes here may be comparable to Western Canda or perhaps Ireland or New Zealand, but they FEEL entirely different. There is a history here that no other place can claim.

Also, on a less philisophical note - Spring is on its way! It's been two straight days of 55 degress and mostly sun, the tulips are shooting up from the spongy ground and the trees are putting out little green buds. It won't be long now before all the days get more hospitible and I can dive into hiking a bit more earnestly. The ridge (Danyat) behind Alexander Court is still tempting me daily to try and gain its peak. It defeated me the first time, but that was the sun's fault, not mine! I'll yet get up there and also climb to the Wallace Monument. Perhaps this weekend would be a good time to do that, seeing as the weather has turned for the better. But, I will add this little disclaimer regarding the weather here - its much like that of Wisconsin somedays, don't like it? Just wait five minutes and it can completely change on you.

So, though Spring is apparent, I could wake up to driving rains and grey tomorrow. But no fear, a little rain is in no way going to dampen my experience. I'm in Scotland for heaven's sake!