Scotland

The first day we were in Scotland, the weather was quite rainy.  The weather progressively got better with each day.  We all joked that the weather forecast was always quite accurate: "sunshine and showers."  Hey, you can't go wrong with a prediction of sunshine and showers!

Duncan in front of a wind turbine.

I met my first cow on this trip.  She is the one to the right of the center looking at the camera.

Black sheep: they really exist and stand out just a bit.

One day, we went for a little trek.  Davaar island is in the middle of the loch of Cambeltown and during low tide you can walk there.  You have to be careful, though, because if you miss your window you are stuck on the island until the next low tide.  There is a time table available so you know when low tide is for each day (it was a six-hour window the day we went).  So, we trekked.

We had just reached the island.  See the long stretch of land behind me?
It took us about 30 minutes to reach where I'm standing.

On the island, we were startled to find quite a multitude of mountain goats.  I thought it might be nice to say hi to them, like I did the cows.  They decided it would be better to run away from the strange human.  Note to self: cows are friendly, Texas goats are friendly, Scottish mountain goats are skittish.  We continued to walk over rocks to get to our final destination on the island: Jesus.

According to BBC and Duncan's grandparents: this crucifixion painting has been on the island since 1887 when a man was inspired in a dream to paint it.  Locals apparently thought that it was done by God but when they discovered it was done by the artist, he was exiled indefinitely.  However, it was vandalized a few years ago with the image of Che Guevera.  Someone, out of the kindness of their heart, adhered to the strict time table of low tides to redo the painting.  Locals say that the new painting was done even better than the original.  Duncan and I were just amazed by the beautiful detail of the painting.

The next day, we went to the Island of Gigha.

Grummies (Hamish Smith, Duncan's grandfather), Duncan, and Granny (Jean, Duncan's grandmother).

 Other shots of our Scotland trip:

Playing around with a pair of binoculars.

The Scottish Thistle.

Cambeltown, the loch, and many boats at the docks and enjoying the day.

Tomorrow is Duncan's first day at his new job.

Say some prayers!

I know that he will do SO well.  This is a job that is so perfect for him.  He has such an inspirational passion for his field and I'm so proud of him for doing so well in school and in his internship and I just know that he's going to do so well in this job.... but I can only imagine how nerve-racking it is for him to go in on his first day for his first career job out of college.