MAY BE
The Excuses
Once again this has been left to the last minute. My apologies. The essential excuse this month is a three week holiday without the internet. However, it has been one of the best holidays we’ve ever had; for me the extra week made all the difference.
It began with four days in the Lake District in a shepherds hut; tight for space, but in the field over the fence new born lambs almost everyday. From the farm we climbed straight onto the fell side and up Helvellyn. By the grace of God, going slowly and picking a carefully graded route I got to the top, and even more amazingly got back down with few hip or knee problems which was a bit of a miracle to start with. We had been practicing on the Cotswold Way and it obviously helped (see Facebook Ceridwen S. Owen for all the adventures and interesting places we visited along the way). We also met up with family, did another epic walk, met a giraffe in Keswick one evening whilst going to the cinema to see Allelujah, (didn’t see the twist coming) and then drove to Scotland.
The Challenges
Beside a sea loch, with the Five Sisters (mountian peaks) visible from our windows, we had the best view ever, the only slight hiccup was no WiFi. I didn’t realise how hooked into Facebook and Instagram I had become until my Facebook accounts crashed the day before holiday. As I’m a bit rubbish with technology that was scary enough, but with no WiFi I couldnt even attempt to rectify the problem or write this. The second miracle happened whilst sitting in a café in Glen Shiel trying to use the WiFi from across the road, when suddenly my Facebook pages were all working again. I was over the moon, and so relieved. However, it did mean I spent the rest of the holiday using 4G. Have you any idea how long that takes if you’re posting reels on only two bars of signal! A long time.
The mountain ridges on either side of the A87 in Glen Shiel are all new to me, and even with research and a close study of the map you can never be absolutely sure about what you will face up there. So every time we set out to tackle another section of the ridge, I was facing an unknown, which meant a certain number of butterflies, but by the end of each day (one lasted ten hours) all was conquered, including the nerves. I’d love to have time to go back and do them all again. The enjoyment would be even greater because I know them now and a spin off I wasn’t expecting was I’ve been a lot braver with technology since we got back.
The Wonders
My hip got better, my knee came down everything we climbed up, the weather was fantastic, we saw White Tailed Sea Eagles and chased them at high speed in a catamaran (no eagles were disturbed by this), but it was nearly the coolest thing I have ever done; we met my editor and his lovely wife who were also on holiday in the same area, climbed most of the glorious north and south sides of the Glen Shiel ridges in chunks (so out and back), had a ride on the coolest and only working turntable car ferry in the world, from Glenelg to Skye, and got interviewed by a television crew whilst on board (they translated what I said into Gaelic). Like I said, the best holiday ever. Again, if you are into mountains and panoramic views take a look at my Facebook pages.
The Boat
God (Dad), is never out of the picture, and this is what he showed me on the last day of our wonderful gift of a holiday.
“The boat I’ve been watching all holiday is pushed and pulled constantly by the tide and wind, swung in every direction on a daily basis, but it’s anchor holds it in place. Sometimes the anchor chain is taught, sometimes it’s slack, the boat is rocked up and down or perfectly still in water that mirrors the mountains and sky around it, but always it remains secured by it’s anchor. Our anchor, in this constantly changing world, under the pressures of life, is FAITH - that steady attachment to Father God, trusting him, like a child despite all that is happening around us.”
God’s View
The cloud is low over Loch Duich today, the far side is almost blotted out. The colour has drained away from this stunning view. and it looks drab and bland, but the clouds will lift, the breath-taking brilliance of colour, the magnificence and magnitude of the view as it reaches into the sky is still there. Just because our view is obscured or has shrunk for a while, doesn’t mean He is not there. His view is always in brilliant colour and full of life, always, he does not change and neither do his promises.
