Friday, September 4

Lamenting Days of Yore


Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap organized by Baking In A Tornado. This week I joined 15 other brave bloggers who picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

Here are links to all the writers now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out.

My subject is: You have a choice of a perfect vacation. Where do you go and who do you take with you? It was submitted by The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver. Here goes:  


via Virtual Tourist


I can sense it in my bone,
Feel its pull on the wind-
Can hear it echo within my breast-
Sending chill across my skin.

An isle worlds away is calling
Brazen realm of cliff and stone
A land of blooming thistle
I’ve glimpsed in aging tome."
-Luke Douglas



 Green. Jade. Emerald. Forest.

The color means trees. The smell of pine needles. Rolling hills of wet grass after rain. I've always been attracted to it. It means life and brightness. Even if there is no sun, and the clouds dim the day, I will find the green. It is always vibrant.

To me it also means Scotland. I instinctively picture endless fields, farmers and their sheep herding the countryside and tall trees as far as the eye can see. I grew up next to cornfields. That is a different kind of countryside. It always felt barren and dry.

I daydream about 16th century Scottish life. I'm not sure if that is what I would find now. I would take my husband, of 10 years, and cross the Atlantic Ocean. (He might have one arm left by the time we land. Airplanes make my stomach roll.) We would plant our feet on the foreign soil and walk off the beaten path. It is a place I wouldn't mind getting lost in for awhile.

We could rent a small cottage in an out-of-the-way town. Just us. No children. No expectations. Like the honeymoon we never had. We would wake up to chilly mornings with coffee and dew speckled landscapes. Then talk a walk down cobble stoned roads and find a market for breakfast. Then meet the people.

I am in love with accents. Not languages but the way people talk. French is supposed to be the language of love. I prefer the big, burly gents.Words so thick you have to watch the person's mouth to track what they are saying. They seem exotic. I would roll my tongue around words like Mackinnon, Beinn na Caillich, Argyle and Carnasserie. My ears would be filled with laughter because alcohol runs freely through Scottish veins.

Of course, we would visit the tourist stops. All the castles. Stonehenge. The Coast. Tea rooms. All the Pubs. The Lock. The Highlands. The Isle of Man. A free vacation is so open ended. We might never leave. 

Except for the kids. I almost forgot about them.









-J

11 comments:

  1. Sounds like a perfect, guilt free, lovely vacation. I'd love to go to Italy and Sicily with my hubby!

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  2. You paint a beautiful picture with your words. Sounds like you sort of just had that honeymoon after all,even if it is only in your mind. And damn, those kids dragged you back to reality!

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  3. It's funny because had I answered my own question I would have said Ireland. I dream of it, I am dying to go there some day and I love their accents. We could be neighbors haha! Terrific job!

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  4. What, no bagpipes? Are you going to taste this food specialty, haggis?
    I only live a 2 hours' flight from Edinburgh but I have never made it to Scotland. Now i kind of want to go.
    Stonehenge is in Southern England, btw, less than a 2 hours' drive from London.

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  5. Sounds amazing. I just want a vacation so badly. :)

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  6. Scotland would be a perfect place to escape. I too love the accent :)

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  7. I fell in love with your vacation and the way you described it. ❤

    I've always wanted to go to Iceland...but you sold me on Scotland now...

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  8. That sounds like an amazing vacation! I have so many places I'd love to see (and a completely empty wallet!)

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  9. Scotland is on my list, too. Maybe not 16th century Scotland, but the way you describe your (hopeful) experience does sound serene... and romantic, of course!

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