Tales of Old Scotland

Glen Coe, Scotland

When I think I know something about the world, I travel, and realize so quickly  that I don't think I know much about the world. I've seen so little. These places we can visit are open to us to catch a glimpse of history, and a past steeped in story. A ground heavy-laden with those tales of old, shared with travelers and held close by the locals. 

Places of beauty can be so barren, broken, and still beautiful. They are home to some, with dramatic grand scale scenes of nature. It may seen a harsh environment with wind-tossed weary fields at the bottom of mountains. A valley desolate. Yet this is where some yellow thistle blooms on the side of the road. This is where I catch glimpses of the sun breaking through the craggy rocky mountains and through to the valley floor. It lasts only a moment, and then shadows rolls in. This is where I see small streams of life-giving water run through the cracks we can barely see.

A misty rain begins to fall and I still stand there in awe of such a place. I click my camera, but there is no way to capture the immensity on film, nor envelope the sense of atmosphere in the photo. I can only experience it, standing there, and solidifying it in memory. I can write about it later, of course, but it is from that memory of place and milieu that I can recollect it again. 

Glen Coe is always there. Unmoving, we must go to the place to be in its dwelling. We must be willing to open up to its tales of old. We must be quiet to hear the rush of a small waterfall into a stream that runs to the right of this spot, if I panned over a bit.

Perhaps we all have different places that inspire us the most. I have a few, and the majestic starkness of these mountains in Scotland with green carpet and dramatic rocky cliffs fills my imagination with wonder and story. I don't think any place I have been can compare with these areas of north western Scotland. With the dramatic scenery and natural awe-inspiring places. The drives had me holding my breath for the scenery that appeared around each bend in the road. 

Sometimes it is good to remember these moments for no reason other than simple appreciation of time, space, and the place, all created for the glory of God.