I have to admit it was great to jump in the car and head for Loch Ness for an hour or so with 8 other students. I did two runs to the Loch and I parked the car after the second run outside the Loch Ness visitors centre situated about halfway up the Loch. The weather was beautiful, crisp but sunny and the sun reflected off the almost mill pond still Loch like something sent from heaven.
We crossed the road to the Loch under a purpose built tunnel and came out to a jetty where the boat trips were starting from across the Loch. They didn't seem that busy but to be fair it was obviously later in the year. We all walked off the sloping concrete to the Loch's edge as if drawn to it by some magical power, we stood there and just took in the view and the air for a little while, after the intensive full on writing atmosphere in the cottage it was great to just let your spirit wonder for a little while. We soon started being 'children' and had a great time looking for 'skimming' stones and shouting with whoops of joy when we managed at least 3 skips in a row, silly yes but all the more enjoyable for it. Gemma bless her the youngest of the bunch was handing me stones to skip across the water more akin to a house brick than a flat saucer but what the hell i threw them anyway, which made us laugh even more when they just sank to the bottom of the Loch as soon as they hit the water !.
I do wonder what some of the tourists on the jetty thought of our shenanigans but to be honest we didn't really care. Magis,Hannah,Chris,Kelsey,Gemma,Olivia,Nuala Jo and myself all the firmest of friends had a wonderful time, we all came back to Moniach with huge smiles on our faces and it strengthened that bond we had all built between the group. I returned with a bottle of Macellan 15 year old whisky from the 'oak' as a little present for later on that night.
When we returned to Moniack everyone got stuck in to the final preparations of their work which they were to read to the rest of us after dinner. It was a nervous time for many including myself as it would be the finale to a week of lessons and guidance from two of the very best tutors in their class and none of us wanted to disappoint. Tonight's dinner would be Haggis, I have to admit i refrained as it's not to my liking, but there was Spag Bol available for those who didn't want to partake of the National dish.
We all sat down for dinner and as usual we were all in a great mood but it was tinged with sadness at this our last dinner together, we had all just sat down when a housekeeper poked her head around the door and asked "are we all seated?" the answer was pretty much a 'yes' from all.. "good then" says she, "we have a little surprise for you all".. and with that the outside door opened and in walked a piper to bless the eating of the Haggis, for once my iphone was in the right place at the right time...
I have to admit I was glad at that point that no-one had actually turned around and spoken to me, because i had a lump in the throat that would have choked me for sure. tears welled up a little as the young lad played the pipes and we sat and enjoyed the spectacle all twinned with the knowledge that reality would beckon once more in just a few hours. Indeed it was a sad but poignant moment, one of many on this voyage of literal discovery I was to experience thanks to Arvon.
A hearty round of applause followed the end of the piper's tune, indeed it was a wonderful touch to a wonderful evening. We all ate heartily and enjoyed our meal and apparently the Haggis went down a treat, though for me the Spag Bol was equally as delicious with a side helping of garlic bread.
After dinner we all sat around the lounge settees again and some stayed at the dinner table with a glass of their poison, I put the 15 year old Scotch on the table in front of John and said "will this do young John?"
With that he picked the bottle up and studied the label for a few seconds, then quipped to Morag,
"Morag, will ye look at this, it's fifteen year ald Macellan, as writers we could only eva aspire ta the 10 year old and in young Dave walks wi' a bottle 'a fifteen year old jist like that, we're in tha wrong job fa sure!"
At that we laughed out loud and i immediately popped the top off the sacred brew and poured those that wanted it a wee dram, it was good, very good, but i have to say the company was it's equal if not better.
With the wine and whisky flowing it was time for the stories to begin, we were in for a wonderful treat of stories and lifetimes that melted our hearts and left us in astonishment at times, from Magis's story about villagers in India that poison the milk of a new born girl because "they don't want Doctors" (girls cost a fortune to raise in India and some villages still condone poison for female babies) which left us all so stunned and yet full of marvel at this wonderful lady who had stood up and read this to us as if she had read out loud for years, it was heartfelt and tragic yet inspiring to listen to, we were treated to semi-biographical stories, suicide, army heartbreak, working girls and even a school teacher's day which was wonderfully portrayed in Chris's story, who was so dry and yet so funny we all laughed out loud.
I stood up and read a couple of poems that I had written a while ago, one was about the craziness that is religion and the other was about my adventures sat on a dragon's tale, both of which can be found on this blog site, I also read out Bess, the poem that has hopefully started me off in a new direction thanks to those wonderful tutors on the course, it went down well and I was honoured to have been given the opportunity to read in front of such a great group of people.
Once the brilliant readings were over we all sat down and attacked the wine and the whisky, our tutors helped us with any other outstanding questions, but soon we were all just chatting and enjoying the evening in good company, putting the world to rights about everything from politics to writing.
The evening drew on and the log burner flickered in the corner at half it's normal rate as it slowly burned itself into a pile of ashes, a few had already headed for bed as they were catching early trains and some goodbyes had already sadly, been taken care of. The few of us left standing (or sitting) polished off the rest of the wine and whiskey and bade everyone a good night... it was indeed a sad time for all of us.
The Saturday of goodbyes... to be continued.
We crossed the road to the Loch under a purpose built tunnel and came out to a jetty where the boat trips were starting from across the Loch. They didn't seem that busy but to be fair it was obviously later in the year. We all walked off the sloping concrete to the Loch's edge as if drawn to it by some magical power, we stood there and just took in the view and the air for a little while, after the intensive full on writing atmosphere in the cottage it was great to just let your spirit wonder for a little while. We soon started being 'children' and had a great time looking for 'skimming' stones and shouting with whoops of joy when we managed at least 3 skips in a row, silly yes but all the more enjoyable for it. Gemma bless her the youngest of the bunch was handing me stones to skip across the water more akin to a house brick than a flat saucer but what the hell i threw them anyway, which made us laugh even more when they just sank to the bottom of the Loch as soon as they hit the water !.
I do wonder what some of the tourists on the jetty thought of our shenanigans but to be honest we didn't really care. Magis,Hannah,Chris,Kelsey,Gemma,Olivia,Nuala Jo and myself all the firmest of friends had a wonderful time, we all came back to Moniach with huge smiles on our faces and it strengthened that bond we had all built between the group. I returned with a bottle of Macellan 15 year old whisky from the 'oak' as a little present for later on that night.
When we returned to Moniack everyone got stuck in to the final preparations of their work which they were to read to the rest of us after dinner. It was a nervous time for many including myself as it would be the finale to a week of lessons and guidance from two of the very best tutors in their class and none of us wanted to disappoint. Tonight's dinner would be Haggis, I have to admit i refrained as it's not to my liking, but there was Spag Bol available for those who didn't want to partake of the National dish.
I have to admit I was glad at that point that no-one had actually turned around and spoken to me, because i had a lump in the throat that would have choked me for sure. tears welled up a little as the young lad played the pipes and we sat and enjoyed the spectacle all twinned with the knowledge that reality would beckon once more in just a few hours. Indeed it was a sad but poignant moment, one of many on this voyage of literal discovery I was to experience thanks to Arvon.
A hearty round of applause followed the end of the piper's tune, indeed it was a wonderful touch to a wonderful evening. We all ate heartily and enjoyed our meal and apparently the Haggis went down a treat, though for me the Spag Bol was equally as delicious with a side helping of garlic bread.
After dinner we all sat around the lounge settees again and some stayed at the dinner table with a glass of their poison, I put the 15 year old Scotch on the table in front of John and said "will this do young John?"
With that he picked the bottle up and studied the label for a few seconds, then quipped to Morag,
"Morag, will ye look at this, it's fifteen year ald Macellan, as writers we could only eva aspire ta the 10 year old and in young Dave walks wi' a bottle 'a fifteen year old jist like that, we're in tha wrong job fa sure!"
At that we laughed out loud and i immediately popped the top off the sacred brew and poured those that wanted it a wee dram, it was good, very good, but i have to say the company was it's equal if not better.
With the wine and whisky flowing it was time for the stories to begin, we were in for a wonderful treat of stories and lifetimes that melted our hearts and left us in astonishment at times, from Magis's story about villagers in India that poison the milk of a new born girl because "they don't want Doctors" (girls cost a fortune to raise in India and some villages still condone poison for female babies) which left us all so stunned and yet full of marvel at this wonderful lady who had stood up and read this to us as if she had read out loud for years, it was heartfelt and tragic yet inspiring to listen to, we were treated to semi-biographical stories, suicide, army heartbreak, working girls and even a school teacher's day which was wonderfully portrayed in Chris's story, who was so dry and yet so funny we all laughed out loud.
I stood up and read a couple of poems that I had written a while ago, one was about the craziness that is religion and the other was about my adventures sat on a dragon's tale, both of which can be found on this blog site, I also read out Bess, the poem that has hopefully started me off in a new direction thanks to those wonderful tutors on the course, it went down well and I was honoured to have been given the opportunity to read in front of such a great group of people.
Once the brilliant readings were over we all sat down and attacked the wine and the whisky, our tutors helped us with any other outstanding questions, but soon we were all just chatting and enjoying the evening in good company, putting the world to rights about everything from politics to writing.
The evening drew on and the log burner flickered in the corner at half it's normal rate as it slowly burned itself into a pile of ashes, a few had already headed for bed as they were catching early trains and some goodbyes had already sadly, been taken care of. The few of us left standing (or sitting) polished off the rest of the wine and whiskey and bade everyone a good night... it was indeed a sad time for all of us.
The Saturday of goodbyes... to be continued.
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