Water Under The Bridge

Sunday was dull and misty, actually very misty, for our sightseeing trip to John O’ Groats from which we had a very hazy view of the Orkney Islands across the Pentland Firth, a very stormy channel between the mainland and the islands.

On the way home on Monday, we crossed over the Forth Road Bridge which reminded us of the Golden Gate Bridge and from which we had a good view of the Forth Rail Bridge.

That was the end of another great weekend. Based on these two wonderful weekends, kindly paid by my brother, Joyce and I decided to have another excursion the next weekend; our treat. Details will appear in future posts.

After our David Urquhart tour (yes, that is a unpaid tribute) of the previous weekend, we used that service again to head off to Mackay’s Hotel (shown in the lower right of the inserted photographs) in Strathpeffer for our second weekend excursion. Again the services provided were two sightseeing trips, breakfast, dinner and evening entertainment.

Our Saturday sightseeing trip took us to the city Inverness which is most beautiful but the three of us took the time to visit our dear cousin, Margaret Forbes Arnot, who was in Aden Home, a resident nursing care home. We had not seen her in many many years.

Despite her advancing years (92) and failing health relative to severe asthma (runs in our family), she was a bright spark and made sure that each of us had a photograph of her and her son, Gordon, taken at Oliphant Court in Stirling. Although our visit was short, it is one that we treasure and knowing that she was receiving excellent care pleased us.

Although we did not see much of Inverness, our trip was a personal delight.

Well, yesterday was the day for us to dine with Roberto and his family; but it did not start out well; when we, in an attempt to reconfirm that we were expected at 3:00 PM, encountered the same telephone issues. Not wishing to disappoint again, we headed out.

Getting there was quite straight forward; but imagine our concerns when we found no one home. At Joyce’s suggestion, I knocked at the door of the apartment of the next door neighbor who had no idea where Roberto was and commented that if their van was not there, then neither were they.

We waited around for a few minutes and were about to leave when a white van drove up; horn honking and Roberto waving. He and his wife (Anna) had to make an emergency visit to the hospital with their daughter, Lesley (2). Also inside the van was Robert (3) who was fast asleep.

Sensing what they may have been through, we strongly insisted that we reschedule; but Roberto, more insistently, told us to stay and enjoy some homemade Mexican cuisine. We were really made welcome.

While Anna started the meal preparations, all of us, in our stilted language, engaged in some lively conversation with Roberto pointing out the Spanish for the various dishes and the vegetables to be served. It did help that Roberto and I did sip on cerveza (Corona) which did add to our merriment. In the meantime, the children were keeping Joyce occupied.

Eventually, we did sit down to a most enjoyable spicy homemade Mexican dinner which was principally chicken and topped by a delicious dessert. It was as if we were old family friends.

Where the time went remains a mystery; but it came time to bid “Buenas Noches”. Based on a sentence I had prepared in advance and with sincerity, I thanked Anna for a wonderful meal by saying “Gracias por una comida muy agradable”.

Another pleasant mystery is that we were most sincerely invited back; not in a manner of “sometime” but, rather, specifically for next Sunday which, we had to decline. Roberto then wanted us to dine with them the following Sunday.

It gives us a very warm feeling to be part of their lives.

The next excursion from our base of operation, Garve Hotel, was to the pleasant village of Ullapool where we were somewhat surprised to see a cruise ship anchored. On the way to Ullapool, the coach stopped at Poolewe for lunch.

It is difficult to describe the beauty of the Highlands by words or pictures; being actually surrounded by the beauty is a spiritual delight.

At the end of the weekend on the way back to East Kilbride, our route took us through Glen Coe which can cast a dark aura when the weather is gloomy. Our driver, David, played the Ballad of Glen Coe which leaves a deep impression with its haunting music and words as they describe The Massacre of Glen Coe.

Although our excursion lasted from Friday morning to Monday evening, it is amazing how much of the Highlands and part of the Lowlands we saw in such a short time; the good food we ate and the wonderful entertainment each night

It has been our custom to dine at the Guadalajara restaurant in Concord; about every two weeks. In the process we have come to ‘know’ Roberto who is one of the servers whose English is as good as our Spanish. The ‘knowing’ is strictly a few words and friendly greetings; as well as non language teasing.

Last Friday, he, in his very broken English, surprised us by inviting us over to visit his apartment and enjoy a meal with him, his wife and little girl. This was to take place Sunday; and he wrote down telephone number and address on a napkin. No time was set and I was to phone him today to confirm.

Unfortunately, I wakened with one of my all too frequent neck aches, attributable to spinal issues and not well tolerated; requiring Vicodin. There was no way that a visit was in the works; so, not knowing Spanish, I went online to get an English to Spanish translation for a brief explanation of what was happening.

With the written translation in Spanish, I dialed his number via our land line; only to be confronted with an automatic message in Spanish which I did not understand at all. With the thought that his line might have been busy, more calls were made throughout the morning; all with the same result.

We were concerned that preparations might have been made and felt bad that we would let them down. For whatever reason, I tried one more call in the middle afternoon and, this time, used my cell phone. Surprise, surprise, Roberto answered. In my broken Spanish, I read my message and tried to explain the previous unsuccessful calls. Now, at the same time, I dialed on the land line and, immediately, got the automatic answer; so I held my cell phone so he could hear what message I had heard and was hearing. He tried to explain what I was supposed to have done.

Regretfully, preparations were under way; but a rescue effort was made and the invitation was extended to Monday with a definite time of 3:00 PM.

Guess who will be brushing up on learning Spanish.

A surf of the Net revealed this interesting reference to obituary videos on gravestones; provided by VidStone. This is not a promotion for them; just figured that it was a little thought provoking.

Who would watch the video? Is it a touch egotistical? What if a person were cremated? Would that be making an ash of oneself? Could not resist that last question.  Or, what about some comment; such as - “That’s all folks”?

My wife even suggested that my laptop and cell phone might be buried with me so we could stay in touch.

OK, that may be all a little weird but life and death can be too serious at times.

At the outset, readers should be aware that while we were in Scotland it rained, rained and rained again. The rain, however, did not dampen our enthusiasm and enjoyment of our visit.

My brother Drew, who is also known as Andy, was aware that we were not comfortable driving on the other side of the road; and, not being a driver himself, arranged for the three of us to take a weekend excursion tour with David Urquhart Tours to the Highlands.

Our departure was on Friday morning from East Kilbride with pick-up points in Hamilton, Bathgate and Edinburgh. The coach was almost completely filled by the time we set out for the final destination, Garve Hotel which would be our home from home and where we would not only be housed but be provided breakfast and dinner; as well as nightly entertainment from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM.

David Harvey was our driver and tour quide; with a great capacity to keep us informed and amused. Not only did he pass around sweeties (candies); but, on the final day of the tour, ran a little lottery (no cash involved) to see who came closest in estimating the amount of fuel used and the distance traveled.

The Saturday tour took us by rail from Garve to Kyle of Lochalsh; and what a great journey that was; the rail fare, by the way, was prepaid. Prior to our departure from Garve, our driver told us that he and the coach would be waiting for us at the other end of the rail trip. From the railway station, all the tourists wandered into the town to savor its beauty.

On the way back to the hotel for our dinner and the evening entertainment, we stopped at the beautiful village of Plockton. From there, we drove to Eilean Donan Castle and then over to enchanting Loch Carron. Good fortune did shine down on us at each stop. Although the sun did not shine, the rain did stop.

After a very nice dinner, we were entertained by Alan Roy who provided a music mixture of oldies but goodies, dance music and Scottish songs in which the group joined and danced. One of the humorous songs was “The Midges Song”. It is too bad that the lyrics escape me right now.

All in all, it was a great first day of our excursion. Oopps, no mention was made of our savoring the liquid sustenance for which Scotland is well known. Just use your imagination.

With some financial assistance from my brother Drew with whom we would be staying in Scotland, we arranged our flights with KLM which meant us flying out of San Francisco to Glasgow; with a change of planes in Amsterdam.

As has been done in the past, we stayed at the El Rancho Motel (this is not a paid announcement - LOL) in Millbrae; close to the airport. They provide a service which allowed us to leave our vehicle there for 3 weeks and shuttle service to and from the airport. That helps to maintain a relaxed atmosphere.

We were not quite prepared for the mass of people going through the departure process and security. Apart from the process being time consuming, the fact that shoes had to be removed had my slipped mind; otherwise I would have been wearing loafers or velcro ties.

Since this was a trip to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, it was decided to travel business class, savor all the pleasures of that service and the leisure of stretching out; as well as the extra leg room. We were not disappointed.

At Amsterdam, it was necessary to change terminals and KLM provided transportation for Joyce because she has difficulty walking distances. It was possible for me to enjoy the ride since it was one of the motorized vehicles.

When we arrived at Glasgow, however, it was a wheel chair for Joyce and I had to hoof it ( LOL ). It finished up that the young man who was pushing/pulling the wheel chair began a race with a fellows worker who was also providing wheel chair duty. That left me huffing and puffing trying to keep up with them; a losing battle as they disappeared from view. Fortunately, four flight attendants saw my distress, took my carry-on luggage from me and helped me find Joyce.

As soon as we stepped out of Glasgow airport, the rain started. Welcome to Scotland !!!

This is the end of the first post of a continuing saga. Stay tuned. Despite the rain, there is more to tell.

Most of my previous postings have tended to take me back to my relatively early years. It is away past time for me to introduce my wife, Joyce, who is from Pulaski, Virginia.

We met while both of us were working for Longs Drug Stores at the General Offices; back in 1963. It became necessary for one of us to leave the company in 1972, the year we were married. The company auditors deemed that there was a security issue since Joyce was Computer Operations Manager and yours truly was Director of Payroll and Human Resources. Not that we planned anything; but ya never know. LOL

After some serious debate, it was decided that Joyce would be the one to leave; but the company did allow her to work through the end of the year so she would be fully vested in the Profit Sharing Plan. Tom Long, one of the founding brothers, made the comment to me; “Trust you Scotty to marry someone fully vested in the Plan”.

In addition, my boss, Bill Combs, Corporate Treasurer said, “My congratulations to you; my condolences to Joyce”.

This year marked our 35th wedding anniversary and, for that, we traveled to Scotland. Details of our trip will be provided in the next few postings.

It is wonderful when two friends complement (that is not a mis-spelling of compliment) each other. From the outset of our friendship, Daniel and I have been there for each other at various stages.

Recently it was my pleasure to be there to provide a major contribution to Daniel’s purchase of an iPhone. This contribution was in appreciation of his frequent computer technical support,

In turn, yesterday, Daniel gifted (Friday was my birthday) his iPod which he no longer needed.

The confluence of events had that touch of cosmic aura. Daniel was concerned that he had no idea of what to get for my birthday. My needs are reasonably modest (Scottish heritage? - LOL); and I told him to not worry about it. On Friday night at my birthday dinner, my niece was talking about her iPod and that I should get one.

During a chat session with Daniel, I mentioned that my next toy on my wish list was going to be an iPod. At that point, he told me that I had solved the birthday gift issue and presented me with his iPod when he came over to work on my laptop.