The Imperceptible Immigrant

Haunted by time

May 6, 2024 in Life as we know it, Photos | Permalink

“The Orkney imagination is haunted by time.”

George Mackay Brown

Right from the start of of our Scotland trip planning The Girl made a strong case for including a visit to Orkney. Neither of us had been there and her long-standing interest in ancient history marked the island group as a ‘must see’. Orkney is a long way north and getting there and back in a timely fashion – as well, of course, as seeing the sights – is quite a challenge.

What eventually made this part of the trip possible was finding ‘Shorelands’ – a B & B that is also a tour organiser. The excellent Nicky – the proprietor – picked us up from (and dropped us back to) the ferry at Stromness, entertained us splendidly at their place in Kirkwall and took us on a full day’s guided tour of all of the essential sights on the Orkney mainland.

Those from BC will be feel right at home with the most common method of reaching Orkney:

These photos are of Skara Brae – an incredibly well preserved Neolithic village that was revealed during a storm in 1850. It is older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

I recall – all of fifty years ago now – my father returning from a trip to Scotland with a guidebook to Skara Brae, the which I devoured eagerly. So taken was I with the idea of this Neolithic village rediscovered that I wrote an instrumental piece inspired thereby for the first band that I was in. Sometime later we were playing a local gig at which my father was present. As I announced the piece, explaining its origins, a familiar voice called out from the back of the hall:

”You haven’t been there!”

Well – I have now…!

There are many Neolithic remains on Orkney. This henge and stone circle is the Ring of Brodgar:

To our great surprise this group had come to the ring for a somewhat blustery wedding ceremony!

Breathe out…

May 4, 2024 in Life as we know it, Photos | Permalink

This is the morning view from our converted byre in the north west corner of Skye. The couple who converted it live in the wee But and Ben in the photo (actually not so wee!) the which they also converted.

As trailed in yesterday’s post, we are taking a few days to breathe out – to review where we have been and what we have done and to place it all into some larger context.

When we started planning our trip to Caledonia we each had our own agendas. The Girl was keen to revisit places and sights that she had experienced once before on her only previous trip to Scotland. I was eager to see if I could expand the sense of a link to my ancestors that I had originally been gifted by my father – who was always most proud of his Scottish heritage.

So – here we are, about half way through our expedition and this is probably a good opportunity to give some thought to how successful (or otherwise) we have been in achieving our objectives thus far.

When we picked up our hire car in Edinburgh and headed for the highlands we took a brief detour to visit Roslynn Chapel, the which had particularly struck The Girl on her previous trip. Visitors are not allowed to take photos of the wonderful and surprising interior carvings for which the chapel is renowned, so I am instead offering the reader a link to the chapel’s website:

Home

Needless to say, the chapel worked its magic as anticipated.

Our initial sojourn in the highlands found us in a beautifully and thoughtfully converted Air B & B in Pitlochry. This little hideaway – over the garage of a guest house – was wonderfully peaceful and ideally placed for excursions to a variety of sites nearby that I had visited many times back in the day on family holidays.

The Girl and I visited Blair Atholl (and its castle), Bruar (where yet can be found our clan museum) and Old Struan (home to the clan church). The weather was overcast and still quite chilly at this point so photographic opportunities were somewhat limited. These are of Blair Castle – home to the Dukes of Atholl and to Europe’s only private army!

We also visited the pass of Killiecrankie and replicated much of a walk that was a regular and much loved feature of our family holidays in Perthshire.

Herewith a few photos:

This promontory is Soldier’s Leap, so named because – in the rout that followed the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689 – one of the fleeing redcoat soldiers is reputed to have leapt 18 feet across the Garry river to escape the pursuing Jacobites.

Tags: Holiday, Photo, Scotland, Travel

Breathe in…

May 3, 2024 in Life as we know it | Permalink

The Girl and I are touring in Scotland.

Now, The Girl is something of a genius when it comes to planning a trip. Not only is she unbelievably thorough – leaving no stone unturned when it comes to the small detail – but she is also quite brilliant at orchestrating the greater movements on which such an expedition is based. As we arrive at each place on our itinerary – taking each new step on the journey – we discover that she has (in only marginally obsolete parlance) once again ‘absolutely nailed it’ when it comes to choices of where to stay and what to do!

My role in all of this brilliance is far more straightforward. It is my job to experience whatever comes our way – to live the moments and to absorb the impacts thereof, complete with thei underlying narrative and subtexts. It is my small (yet important) task to take photographs and to formulate pithy jottings that can then be imposed on the casual and unsuspecting reader of this journal – in the name of some arcane form of art (see this recent post for further information).

There is also the added bonus that I may – if I am truly fortunate – be able to draw out the germ of some nascent composition… to uncover the basis for yet another song.

Here’s hoping…

i hear mutterings at this point that I have clearly been falling down on the job – that I have not posted an update since we were in Edinburgh more than a week ago. This is, sadly, true… What happens is this: I get so wrapped up with the breathing in… absorbing what is happening and what we are experiencing… that I don’t have the time or capacity to exhale – to share with gentle readers that which we are living through…

…until now, of course.

Today we arrived on the island of Skye – and not just any part of the island, but one of the more remote corners thereof. We have three days here to rest and recuperate.

I will take advantage of this welcome downtime to bring these scribblings up to date.

That’s a promise…

Tags: Holiday, Music, Travel, Writing

Auld reekie

April 28, 2024 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Well – we made it to Scotland in one piece – although the journey was not entirely trouble free. A three hour delay to our flight from Vancouver to London meant we had to catch a later flight to Edinburgh, which meant that we reached our apartment there at about 11:00pm, after 24 hours of travel.

The Girl had found us a splendid National Trust apartment right on the Royal Mile in the old town:

The only downside was that the apartment is on the fifth floor and we had to get our heavy suitcases up this staircase:

It is a good thing that I work out!

We spent a splendid couple of days in Edinburgh before heading for the Highlands. Here are some images:

Tags: Edinburgh, Holiday, Photo, Scotland, Travel

Getting better

April 23, 2024 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

“I’ve got to admit, it’s getting better,
A little better all the time”

John Lennon/Paul McCartney

Some years seem to bestow upon us an abundance of joy and positivity (in the personal realm if not on the national/international stage) whereas others seem fated to to serve up a seemingly endless procession of set-backs and knock-downs. 2024 has seen a bumpy start for The Girl and I, beset with such unexpected events as the exploding shower screen – the dying Mobiliser – and a variety of other unexpected expenses.

These things are, however, transitory and my optimistic nature leads me to look for signs that our fortune is once again improving. Take the glass shower screen – for example…

It had been a while since I posted to this forum the tale of its unexpected demise. The manufacturer of the screen sent us a replacement under warranty in a gratifyingly rapid time (suggesting thereby that this was not exactly an unheard of problem for them). We had by that point also received recommendations from various sources for contractors who could repair the bath tub (damaged by the falling glass) and install the replacement screen. That nothing beyond the delivery of the new screen had yet happened was because the bath-tub-fixing guys had not got back to us; presumably because business was booming and they were being kept busy. Clearly we could not do anything else until the tub was repaired.

I finally received a call from them and we fixed a date for their technical chap to have a look at the tub.

At least – that’s what I expected was going to happen. As it turned out he took a quick look and then retired to his vehicle, returning in short order loaded with equipment. He was clearly expecting to do the job there and then! I pointed out that we had not even discussed the cost of so doing. “No problem” – he explained – “It’s all under warranty“. He further informed me that they were handling all of the paperwork and that I need do not a thing. When I made reference to being able to get the replacement screen installed he told me that they would be taking care of that also! Now, that’s what I call service!

So – we now get to go on our holiday! On our return we will be carrying from the UK a replacement Mobiliser. Yes – we bit the bullet and bought a new one. Well – we are getting old and that thing is a daily godsend for The Girl…

We firmly expect to have a splendid expedition, about which I will doubtless have much to write and many photos to upload.

Tags: blessings, Holiday, Luck, Mobiliser, Shower screen, Travel

Leaving us speechless

April 21, 2024 in Life as we know it | Permalink

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

Ibn Battuta

Almost exactly eleven months ago The Girl and I set out on the journey that is not to be mentioned. Since then my only contact with airlines and airports has been to drop off or to pick up those who have themselves been traveling.

The Girl took a much needed break in Mexico at the end of last year, but I was teaching and could not abandon my students. Since then all of the excursions that have taken place have featured her alone. The new job (concerning which I will shortly be able to divulge more) has taken her – since the New Year – to New Westminster, Vancouver, Kamloops (twice), to Seattle, to Prince George and – most recently – to Fort St. John (practically up in the Arctic circle!). That’s a lot of running around…

Now, though, it is finally time for us both to set forth together again on an expedition that has already been trailed in these postings. We leave in a few days time for Scotland – land of my forefathers – for three weeks of touring.

I liked the Ibn Battuta quote that heads this piece not only for its astute reflection on the manner in which foreign lands can initially overtake one’s power of speech, but also for the notion that we return from such expeditions laden with incidents, encounters and experiences which we are just bursting to share with the world. We are able to do this through the medium of storytelling – in any of its various forms. The subject has been in my mind a fair bit of late because Anam Danu’s recent musical creations have included meditations on the importance and relevance of storytelling. That may well indeed prove to be the key topic of our nascent album (regarding which much more later)…

I feel moved to include here a second quotation – this time from Rainer Maria Rilke (a poet whom I have long admired most highly) from the ninth of his Duino Elegies.

“For when the traveler returns from the mountain-slopes into the valley, he brings, not a handful of earth, unsayable to others, but instead some word he has gained, some pure word, the yellow and blue gentian. Perhaps we are here in order to say: house, bridge, fountain, gate, pitcher, fruit-tree, window – at most: column, tower. . . . But to say them, you must understand, oh to say them more intensely than the Things themselves ever dreamed of existing“.

More scribblings – and images – to follow…

Tags: Holiday, Poetry, Scotland, Travel, Writing

That spring thing

April 15, 2024 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

Took a while getting here this year – but after the snow, rain, hail, winds, damp, grey skies and general lacklustre demeanor – Spring is finally putting in an appearance. Mother Nature – who has been drumming her fingers on the counter-top for some weeks now – enquires frostily (seemed appropriate):

“What kept you”?

Cue the usual annual photos of Mother Nature doing what she does best…

Tags: nature, Photo, Spring, Weather

Logistics

April 7, 2024 in Life as we know it | Permalink

In my last missive I told the sorry tale of the Mobiliser that has ceased to mobilize!

The Girl ain’t happy – and when The Girl ain’t happy… well – you can join the dots for yourself.

So – what is to be done?

Naturally, I contacted the small English firm who make and sell the device. I sent them a recording of the machine’s death rattle and explained the symptoms. They were most helpful and – sight unseen – hazarded a cautious guess at what the problem might be (servo motor gearbox). They even gave me a ball park (and somewhat heart-stopping) figure for fixing the beast…

…if we could get the Mobiliser back to the UK.

Now – this thing folds in half and we sensibly kept the big cardboard box in which it came, but when packaged up the thing has dimensions of:

length: 46″ – breadth: 27″ – depth: 9″

…so – it isn’t small – and it weighs 40lb!

Canada Post were helpful – but quoted us a figure of around $800 dollars for the one-way trip. I swallowed hard, but that was as nothing compared to Fedex who quoted me double that amount (and are probably amongst the cheaper carriers). Canada Post man also suggested that I try Air Canada Cargo – which I thought was a good idea. They would have been happy to help, but pointed out that getting the box back to Heathrow is only half of the battle. Once there one has to hire a broker to get the thing through customs.

“The cheapest option” – opined Canada Post man – “would be to take it there yourself“.

Now – as it happens The Girl and I are heading to the UK in about two and a half weeks time. The trouble is, we are not going to the south east – where the company is based – but to Scotland. If all goes to plan we should be at Heathrow for about six hours as we transit from west to north. Perhaps there is a way of arranging a hookup with some helpful person who could relieve us of this weighty package and see that it gets to the manufacturer… then, three weeks later, could get it back to us on the return journey!

This is the sort of plan that works fine in practice but contains all sort of traps and gotchas that can throw the whole thing into chaos and confusion. “But surely” – I sense you thinking – “air travel these days has become so routine and prosaic that all such things must be feasible“. All we need to do, you might think, is to cast our minds back to our recently travel experiences to set our minds at rest… Oh!!…

Contemplation and negotiations continue. We are determined that we must come up with some solution, because The Girl is sorely (see what I did there?) missing her regular treatments.

Look out for further installments….

Tags: Canada Post, Health, Mobiliser, The Girl, Travel

Tempting the gods

March 28, 2024 in Life as we know it | Permalink

“There is such a thing as tempting the gods. Talking too much, too soon and with too much self-satisfaction has always seemed to me a sure way to court disaster. The forces of retribution are always listening. They never sleep”.

Meg Greenfield

Just a few short posts back – in an offering entitled ‘Make it beautiful‘ – I ventured a short disquisition on the subject of permanence and impermanence. I wasn’t being particularly provocative – or so I thought. Apparently the fates saw things differently and no more than a couple of posts later I found myself having to relay the tale of our exploding (or more likely imploding) shower screen in a post titled ‘Synchronicity‘.

That particular mess is going to take a while to clear up (figuratively speaking!). The manufacturers of the screen rapidly ‘fessed up to what was most likely a manufacturing fault by the simple expedient of sending us, in short order, a replacement under warranty. I got in touch with our excellent contractor who had overseen our original renovation and came away with a list of contacts to get the bath re-surfaced (lots of pits and scratches from the falling glass) a man to install the new screen and another to put us in a new hot water tank (not directly related but I did mention it in the first post above).

The problem is that these things must be done in the correct sequence… nothing can happen until the bath is restored, and the bath restorers clearly have enough work on to take them through to next Christmas. I am still awaiting a call-back…

I had hoped that things would now settle down on the bad news front. Sadly, it seems that the gods are not finished with us quite yet.

A little over a decade ago – whilst The Girl and I were still resident in the UK – we purchased a device that the manufacturers describe as a ‘spinal mobiliser’. It is a sort of massage machine upon which one lays and which – by means of a system of rollers – stretches out the vertebrae whilst simultaneously massaging the surrounding muscle tissues. We came across this thing at (of all places!) the Windsor Horse Show. Horsemen and women are, it seems, much in need of such treatments after a heavy day’s competing in the saddle.

Now, as long as I have known her The Girl has suffered from Sciatica. There at the horse show she hopped (gently) up onto the demo device on the stand and immediately fell in love with the relief that it provided. The machine was an expensive beast – costing several thousand pounds even back then – so we hired one for a month to be sure that it was worth the outlay.

The answer being greatly in the affirmative we scraped together the monies and made the investment. When we later came to Canada the machine came with us (there being no equivalent over here, apparently) though we were obliged to purchase a big step-down transformer because the device only ran on 220V.

It would be an understatement to say that the Mobiliser has served us well and it has more than paid for itself. The Girl uses it most days and it is quite common for those visiting us to jump aboard as well. It was, thus, was a considerable shock when – just over a week ago – the machine emitted a plaintive rattling sound and gave up the ghost.

So – we now have something else that requires fixing. I shall have more to say on the subject in my next post.

Needless to say – The Girl is not happy.

Tags: Home, House, Mobiliser, permanence, The Girl