Retrospective

In a retrospective mood tonight. Runrig's unsurpassed album Long Distance is playing in the background, which puts me back to the early days of Northern Trip. The winter of 2004/5, when I was in Kershader, 12 miles south of here (22 miles by road). It was the CD I was always listening to on my portable player in those dark evenings. I don't think any of you who read my journal nowadays were reading it at that time. The two who did (and commented regularly) have disappeared from my (on-line) life. At the time, I was staying at the Ravenspoint Centre in the tiny hamlet of Kershader, and would go to Stornoway by bus every second or third day. A journey of about 45 minutes and £3.60 return. After doing my business on the library computer I'd go for some lunch in one of Stornoway's restaurants. Having gotten whatever shopping was required, I'd go back to Lochs (the area where Kershader lies) on the bus at 12.30 if I was in a hurry to get back. Well - hurry is not a word that carries any meaning in this island. It would drop me off by the road junction in Balallan, and I'd have to walk the 5 miles back to Kershader. I would think nothing of doing that, it took me 90 minutes. A later bus from Stornoway, at 2.20pm, would provide a connection that would drop me off by the door of Ravenspoint. On other days, I'd be tramping the moors of the area through the day - making sure to return to a road by nightfall.

That is now 4½ years ago, and a closed chapter.