I am so glad you got to go! What an incredible description. It is all so alive…your words, the place, and seemingly inanimate objects that are filled with much more than it seems…like those Gaelic words that flow through the soul and speak of home somehow. I have wanted to go to the Isle of Skye for years now. And Iona is on my list as well. You have stoked the fire of my desire and reminded me about what I love so much about Scotland and Ireland. Thank you!
Thank you so much Terra. Yes, that Celtic wants to scream from the bones out on the edges of home. Something tells me that trip is calling you back. It’s definitely a deeper connection with something beyond the self. Hope all is well down in the sunny South. Stay well, and thank you for always supporting and reaching out. 🙏❤️
Yes Jamie, I feel the same when it comes to support and I do look forward to going back to Ireland and Scotland. In some ways, they feel like home. All is well…
I so resonate with the "gaelic words that flow through the soul and speak of home somehow". Everytime I hear them here I feel like someone wraps me in a warm blanket although I don't understand a word. ❤️
Beautiful post and poem, Jaime. I haven't been to the UK yet but my ancestors originate there. Scotland calls, especially upon reading your words. Thank you for sharing your soul view of travels there. The photos are amazing, too!
Your piece and poetry is a flavourful transmission of ancient well-weathered knowing.
Amazing the innovation of tweed- of any fabric at all really. Speaks to the resilience of Man and also the generosity of Nature to always provide what we need, like a puzzle-box full of pieces we've yet to place in order.
Thank you for the boost of fertilizer to the often dormant possibility of travel and exploration. It's so easy to NOT go anywhere. It's a gift to be reminded that there is magic to be found OUT THERE!!
Thanks so much Jacqueline! It’s going “out there”with an “in here” lens maybe? I love that intersection of people and place and spirit. It seems to be more present way out on the edge. We definitely feel the veil is thinner in certain places. I really appreciate you leaning into this one. Travel for me is one thing that slows down time. Kairos. To be a stranger, and at the same time, tapping into a deeper knowing. Meet you there. Bless you. I appreciate your support here. 🙏❤️
Fifty years ago I was in a Black House on a wet and windy afternoon. The peat had been flared in the morning and the smoored ash gave a constant heat. The very old lady had been gone only a few years; her brother had gone to America a long time before. The welcome was still there. She would have baked a cake. There was no cow to warm the house under the heather thatch, but it was warm enough and dry and functional, the air clear. The warm fumes filtered up through the whole roof. The potato pit outside the thick wall would have needed filling and clamping for winter months, but it came to me that if it was required that I not leave, I would be content.
I totally resonate Philip! There is something ancestral there that just knows. I didn’t want to leave. There’s some thing about that wild west on both sides of the Minch as you more than anyone knows. The whole area is a poem. Bless you. 🙏❤️
A perfect combination of travel, observation, description, and resulting poem. A poet doing his stuff properly.
I've never really explored the Western Isles; my loss. Have family from the eastern side (Aberdeen - I'm 25% Scottish - Fraser clan). Your account makes me want to travel. I've always said to Veronika that we must 'do' Scotland - now I know where to start. :)
Thanks for your kind words Josh! I like how you put it. A good friend, reframed it for me, saying that it’s not “travel writing”. It’s experience writing from somebody who travels. That resonates. Thanks for seeing that.
Yes, get out to those Western Isles one day. Essentially the lowest population density in Europe with some of the most spectacular nature and people you will meet. It’s definitely off the beaten path. You will be bathed in Gaelic and leave in wonder. Blessings. Thank you for the support. 🙏❤️
What little I know of Scotland is that the people have adapted to the land, the environmental conditions, which seem harsh and unforgiving. I notice a lack of trees and birds in this story.
Was the vista one of a lack of any wildlife? Was it a feeling of a mystical barreness? It seems so, the feeling I get when reading this.
I ask for a reason, because this lack also shapes and forms us. And it infuses the air that we breathe.
Thanks! Windy Perry. Birds 🦅 everywhere on cliffs and rock perches. Puffins galore. Always part of the bigger picture. This one was about place and people. Barren yes from my forest man’s perspective yet abundant in a spirit that Ontario does not seem to share. Bless you and as always thanks for your support! 🙏❤️
"A cuoreodyssey" I adored Jamie! You've created wonderful imagery with words, and I also enjoyed the photographs. I desire to use English words, as you do, in ways that allow them to interact and breathe while also being consistent and juicy in meaning. The poem goes over the edges, too!
I had to look up the dictionary to understand the meaning of some words, but I felt them first, so thank you! Keep wondering and writing!
I love this: "To be in this place is to be of something bigger. It is beyond bone and skin and out beyond the edges of the body."
Thank you Katerina. I definitely tried to weave this post and poem into a little bit of a spiralling thread dancing with meaning and metaphor. There is definitely a tapestry of flow in that place that swallows one whole. Thanks for going deeper with those words and looking them up. I really appreciate how much you lean into these poems and writings. You make it better! Thank you so so much. Thank you for going out on the edges here. 🙏❤️
It’s definitely time out of mind! Out on the edges we can see things we can’t see from the centre. The veil is thin and the muse of creativity calls loudly. Thanks for your support mate. 🙏❤️
What a beautiful way to capture your travel experience! I first thought the first picture is a painting. So beautiful! Your words are taking me into a feeling and as I am strongly familiar with the smell of burning peat I am now feeling all the autumn vibes, imagining wrapping myself in tweed. Connected to everything that is. Thanks for this! And I definitely have to visit Scotland soon!
Thanks Sadhbh! It is a fascinating place with a thin veil to that cosmic being-ness of one. Would recommend a trip to Scotland to places off the beaten track. The Western Isles are such a destination. Yes the scenery is beyond and that is a real picture off of a cell phone. The pic does not do the scenery justice. An experience indeed! Blessings 🙏❤️
Jamie I found your essay on Notes and am so glad I did! Thank you for transporting me to this amazing place, for carrying me to the heart of the land and the soul of its people. It’s interesting to learn this is where Harris tweed originated.
Lastly, your poem is so wonderful (that doesn’t do it justice but I’m failing to come up with something better).
Wow thanks Donna! It’s definitely a place where the veil is thin. I really appreciate your reading this and reaching out here. Poetry is what poetry does. Thanks for resonating. 🙏❤️
Jamie, this is absolutely beautiful. What a gorgeous image you have painted of the homeland ❤️ I am a Gunn. An ancestor of Vikings. Now I know I need to go to these places. Your pictures are wonderful too. Thank you. I was waiting for this and glad I caught it. oxox
Thanks so much Deb. We are also of the northwest highlands. If you get a chance, it’s well worth the trip. Pretty spectacular. Thanks as always for the support and encouragement. Blessings 🙏❤️
I have never been to Scotland, despite my Scottish ancestry, and living in Celtic countries nearly three decades (first on the British Isles, now on the Iberian peninsula). Your entrancing description of the island of Lewis and Harris stirs the Wanderlust for those northern gems.
"Sea, sky, smoke, sand, shore, machair, marram, moor, mist and mountain melt into a tapestry of colours that have danced on looms for hundreds of years."
I love how you weave the landscape into the textile history of Scotland, wrapping crofts, vegetation and weather into the cloth of the island people.
Beautiful poem too, a moving ode to Lewis & Harris
Thanks so much Veronika. It’s definitely worth the trip. It’s a land woven on the loom of soul. The whole Island feels like a portal to something that transcends the self. Words can never truly express it. Yet poetry aspires to touch the intimacy. If only for a moment. We write on. Bless you 🙏❤️
I am so glad you got to go! What an incredible description. It is all so alive…your words, the place, and seemingly inanimate objects that are filled with much more than it seems…like those Gaelic words that flow through the soul and speak of home somehow. I have wanted to go to the Isle of Skye for years now. And Iona is on my list as well. You have stoked the fire of my desire and reminded me about what I love so much about Scotland and Ireland. Thank you!
Thank you so much Terra. Yes, that Celtic wants to scream from the bones out on the edges of home. Something tells me that trip is calling you back. It’s definitely a deeper connection with something beyond the self. Hope all is well down in the sunny South. Stay well, and thank you for always supporting and reaching out. 🙏❤️
Yes Jamie, I feel the same when it comes to support and I do look forward to going back to Ireland and Scotland. In some ways, they feel like home. All is well…
I so resonate with the "gaelic words that flow through the soul and speak of home somehow". Everytime I hear them here I feel like someone wraps me in a warm blanket although I don't understand a word. ❤️
Yes, you would get all of that in Ireland. People place and spirit. Enjoy that warm blanket of words. 🙏❤️
What beautiful and evocative descriptions which are enticing me to visit. And the poem is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing 💜
Thanks Simone! Somehow, as a traveler, and as a stranger, the familiar bleeds through. Bless you. 🙏❤️
And you 🙏🏼
Wow — your poetry is always lovely written read and spoken — but the prose here is gorgeous too.
Thank you for sharing your experience of being the edge.
Thanks Eric! Coming from an amazing story writer like you I am honoured! Thank you for being here and for all of your support 🙏❤️
It’s a real pleasure :)
Beautiful post and poem, Jaime. I haven't been to the UK yet but my ancestors originate there. Scotland calls, especially upon reading your words. Thank you for sharing your soul view of travels there. The photos are amazing, too!
It’s well worth the journey Shelly! Thanks, as always, for reading and for reaching out 🙏❤️
Goosebumps, Jamie!!
Your piece and poetry is a flavourful transmission of ancient well-weathered knowing.
Amazing the innovation of tweed- of any fabric at all really. Speaks to the resilience of Man and also the generosity of Nature to always provide what we need, like a puzzle-box full of pieces we've yet to place in order.
Thank you for the boost of fertilizer to the often dormant possibility of travel and exploration. It's so easy to NOT go anywhere. It's a gift to be reminded that there is magic to be found OUT THERE!!
Thanks so much Jacqueline! It’s going “out there”with an “in here” lens maybe? I love that intersection of people and place and spirit. It seems to be more present way out on the edge. We definitely feel the veil is thinner in certain places. I really appreciate you leaning into this one. Travel for me is one thing that slows down time. Kairos. To be a stranger, and at the same time, tapping into a deeper knowing. Meet you there. Bless you. I appreciate your support here. 🙏❤️
Fifty years ago I was in a Black House on a wet and windy afternoon. The peat had been flared in the morning and the smoored ash gave a constant heat. The very old lady had been gone only a few years; her brother had gone to America a long time before. The welcome was still there. She would have baked a cake. There was no cow to warm the house under the heather thatch, but it was warm enough and dry and functional, the air clear. The warm fumes filtered up through the whole roof. The potato pit outside the thick wall would have needed filling and clamping for winter months, but it came to me that if it was required that I not leave, I would be content.
Jamie; great words and pictures!
I totally resonate Philip! There is something ancestral there that just knows. I didn’t want to leave. There’s some thing about that wild west on both sides of the Minch as you more than anyone knows. The whole area is a poem. Bless you. 🙏❤️
A perfect combination of travel, observation, description, and resulting poem. A poet doing his stuff properly.
I've never really explored the Western Isles; my loss. Have family from the eastern side (Aberdeen - I'm 25% Scottish - Fraser clan). Your account makes me want to travel. I've always said to Veronika that we must 'do' Scotland - now I know where to start. :)
Thanks for your kind words Josh! I like how you put it. A good friend, reframed it for me, saying that it’s not “travel writing”. It’s experience writing from somebody who travels. That resonates. Thanks for seeing that.
Yes, get out to those Western Isles one day. Essentially the lowest population density in Europe with some of the most spectacular nature and people you will meet. It’s definitely off the beaten path. You will be bathed in Gaelic and leave in wonder. Blessings. Thank you for the support. 🙏❤️
What little I know of Scotland is that the people have adapted to the land, the environmental conditions, which seem harsh and unforgiving. I notice a lack of trees and birds in this story.
Was the vista one of a lack of any wildlife? Was it a feeling of a mystical barreness? It seems so, the feeling I get when reading this.
I ask for a reason, because this lack also shapes and forms us. And it infuses the air that we breathe.
Thanks! Windy Perry. Birds 🦅 everywhere on cliffs and rock perches. Puffins galore. Always part of the bigger picture. This one was about place and people. Barren yes from my forest man’s perspective yet abundant in a spirit that Ontario does not seem to share. Bless you and as always thanks for your support! 🙏❤️
You are right about the lack of spirit in Ontario, Jamie, especially here in Toronto. Glad there were birds galore. Puffins on cliffs.
"A cuoreodyssey" I adored Jamie! You've created wonderful imagery with words, and I also enjoyed the photographs. I desire to use English words, as you do, in ways that allow them to interact and breathe while also being consistent and juicy in meaning. The poem goes over the edges, too!
I had to look up the dictionary to understand the meaning of some words, but I felt them first, so thank you! Keep wondering and writing!
I love this: "To be in this place is to be of something bigger. It is beyond bone and skin and out beyond the edges of the body."
Thank you Katerina. I definitely tried to weave this post and poem into a little bit of a spiralling thread dancing with meaning and metaphor. There is definitely a tapestry of flow in that place that swallows one whole. Thanks for going deeper with those words and looking them up. I really appreciate how much you lean into these poems and writings. You make it better! Thank you so so much. Thank you for going out on the edges here. 🙏❤️
The lean is real and valuable; it builds trust, the one thing we are all looking for! Thank you! 🙏❤️
Thank you! Well said. It seems that things can only move at the speed of trust. 🙏❤️
Wonderful mate, wow, those journeys to the edgelands are full of treasure. Travel well. Travel well. ❤️🙏
It’s definitely time out of mind! Out on the edges we can see things we can’t see from the centre. The veil is thin and the muse of creativity calls loudly. Thanks for your support mate. 🙏❤️
What a beautiful way to capture your travel experience! I first thought the first picture is a painting. So beautiful! Your words are taking me into a feeling and as I am strongly familiar with the smell of burning peat I am now feeling all the autumn vibes, imagining wrapping myself in tweed. Connected to everything that is. Thanks for this! And I definitely have to visit Scotland soon!
Thanks Sadhbh! It is a fascinating place with a thin veil to that cosmic being-ness of one. Would recommend a trip to Scotland to places off the beaten track. The Western Isles are such a destination. Yes the scenery is beyond and that is a real picture off of a cell phone. The pic does not do the scenery justice. An experience indeed! Blessings 🙏❤️
Jamie I found your essay on Notes and am so glad I did! Thank you for transporting me to this amazing place, for carrying me to the heart of the land and the soul of its people. It’s interesting to learn this is where Harris tweed originated.
Lastly, your poem is so wonderful (that doesn’t do it justice but I’m failing to come up with something better).
Wow thanks Donna! It’s definitely a place where the veil is thin. I really appreciate your reading this and reaching out here. Poetry is what poetry does. Thanks for resonating. 🙏❤️
I love that - poetry is what poetry does! So true.
It's a beautiful place. Your poem is lovely too.
I'm trying to learn Scottish Gaelic, and it's a challenge of a language
Thanks, Juliet! It’s a beautiful language, and somehow sings through the land. Bless you.
Beautiful descriptions and gorgeous poetry! Thank you so much for taking me on a journey to the unknown today, I so enjoyed it ❤️
Tried to paint you a picture Jenn! Thanks so much for the support and always seeing me in the unknown. 🙏❤️
It was a beautiful picture, Jamie! Thank you so much ☺️
Jamie, this is absolutely beautiful. What a gorgeous image you have painted of the homeland ❤️ I am a Gunn. An ancestor of Vikings. Now I know I need to go to these places. Your pictures are wonderful too. Thank you. I was waiting for this and glad I caught it. oxox
Thanks so much Deb. We are also of the northwest highlands. If you get a chance, it’s well worth the trip. Pretty spectacular. Thanks as always for the support and encouragement. Blessings 🙏❤️
Of course! 😘
And we would love to do a trip like this 🙏🏻
I have never been to Scotland, despite my Scottish ancestry, and living in Celtic countries nearly three decades (first on the British Isles, now on the Iberian peninsula). Your entrancing description of the island of Lewis and Harris stirs the Wanderlust for those northern gems.
"Sea, sky, smoke, sand, shore, machair, marram, moor, mist and mountain melt into a tapestry of colours that have danced on looms for hundreds of years."
I love how you weave the landscape into the textile history of Scotland, wrapping crofts, vegetation and weather into the cloth of the island people.
Beautiful poem too, a moving ode to Lewis & Harris
Thanks so much Veronika. It’s definitely worth the trip. It’s a land woven on the loom of soul. The whole Island feels like a portal to something that transcends the self. Words can never truly express it. Yet poetry aspires to touch the intimacy. If only for a moment. We write on. Bless you 🙏❤️