Last September I heard of Scottish Country Dancing (SCD) for the first time and I’ve been taking a weekly class ever since. I’ve learned over time that the best way to travel is to meet people who share my interests. So, when I started planning my long-awaited trip to explore North Carolina I looked into dancing there. It turns out that the day I flew into Charlotte, there was a SCD gala in the area, due to the local Loch Norman Scottish Games taking place that weekend. I went to the gala to observe, hoping to meet some people and learn about dancing in the area.

The end of the grand march, with the first four-couple set.

This turned out to be a great beginning to my trip. I met many people, from Georgia, North Carolina and Massachusetts. I was invited to dance with them the following day at the games and did so with relish. Later in the week, joined by a fellow dancer from Berkeley, I danced in the little town of Hot Springs in the mountains near Tennessee. The next day, I rejoined my new friends from the Charlotte area, dancing with the Shelby group. I had a great time and expect to dance with them again. The SCD community is small–I met people who know both of my beginners’ class instructors in California. This turned out to be a great way to meet people and learn about life in North Carolina. For those interested in SCD in this area, visit the Carolinas Branch website.

Santa Perfitt Jimenz weaving with her backstrap loom.

As readers of this blog know, I have a big interest in weaving. It was enough to get me to Scotland and it may be enough to get me to Guatemala. Recently, a friend forwarded me information about a new exhibit at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley on Guatemalan weaving, and about a demonstration of traditional Guatemalan backstrap weaving. I went, of course. Seeing this weaving has inspired me to think that my next big ramble may be to Guatemala, where I can see both weaving and Mayan ruins. I want to share with you three things from that exhibit: backstrap weaving, ikat weaving and a very cool optical illusion.

A few years ago, one of my friends said that we in the Bay Area live in paradise. It’s close to the truth, including a wide variety of opportunities for outdoor recreation and seeing wildlife. One wildlife experience that I’ve heard about for years is taking whale-watching trips off the coast. I have watched from coastal cliffs as California grey whales make their annual migration up and down the coast. But, until now, I haven’t taken a whale-watching boat trip. This isn’t the grey whale season, so I learned that we were in search of humpback whales.

The name of this blog reflects the influence of a song, The Edinburgh Rambler. This is a rewrite of an old song, The Manchester Rambler, written by Ewan MacColl in the 1930s. It was rewritten by Ed Miller, a Scot, to reflect the same issues, access to the outdoors on private property, but set in his native Scotland instead of England. There’s a line in the refrain that caught my attention: “I may be a wage slave on Monday, but I am a free man on Sunday.” This aptly captures my conflict between my need to work and my dreams and desires to do other things.

It gives me great pleasure to take photos while on group trips. Over the years, I find myself taking fewer pictures of where I am and more of who I am with. This trip was especially nice for this, because everyone, children and adults, let me take their pictures without restraint. As you can see, some even posed enthusiastically. Following are portrait shots of everyone on the trip. To them, I say thanks for a wonderful time on the river.

The last day was relaxing and a little bittersweet. People always seem to linger around after a group trip, not wanting to say goodbye, not wanting it to end. I certainly felt this. But, the last day had some rewards.

OK, so everyone else called it The Wind Tunnel. But, this is such a friendly and supportive group that, for us, I think it deserves to be called The Wind Tunnel of Love.

We were all up early, had a light breakfast, packed the canoes and were on the water shortly after 7:30 am.

Tuesday was our layover day at Basin Creek. This gave people a chance to relax and do what they wanted. So, people took off for part of the day following their individual interests: hiking, rock collecting, reading, and swimming. But, among this trip’s traditions is a climb up to the waterfall. It’s actually the second waterfall, since there is one that drops down right to where the campsite was. This sounds like a long hike to get there, but it actually is only about a 100 yard trip up the canyon to the waterfall. What makes the trip interesting and fun is that it is not an easy 100 yard walk.

To make our layover camping spot, we had to put in a long second day on the water. After breakfast we broke camp, packed the canoes and headed out. After a couple hours of paddling we took a break at a lovely sandy beach with a nice swimming area. Entertainment was provided by swimmers, jumpers and divers, the latter two taking advantage of a good rock next to a good-sized hole in the water.

About six months ago, my friend Enid asked me to join her on a canoing trip on the Eel River. At the time I was preoccupied with getting ready for Scotland, and the Scotland trip was going to wipe out most of my paid time off, so I begged off. But, after coming home from Scotland, I decided a “local” trip (only a few hours drive away) to try canoing would be fun. I recalculated my time off and figured I’d have exactly the four days needed, so signed up for the trip. Now I could try canoing and compare it to my other waterborne experiences: kayaking, rafting and sailing.

Often I “see things” when I’m out cruising around with a camera: patterns, colors, shapes, something interesting, beautiful or funny. This is a collection of pictures I took that caught my eye for one reason or another. Expect no commentary, as it is just the image that matters, not time, nor place, nor subject. Enjoy. (Click individual images to see a larger version.)

One of the things I left Scotland with was a belief that Scots have a real sense of place in their country. Each region has its own unique charm and beauty that seems to tie people to it. The Isle of Harris, isolated, rugged and sparsely populated, is no exception. Gillian Scott-Forrest organized the Harris Tapestry Project to celebrate the millennium in 2000. Their goal was to celebrate Harris’ recent history, that is the past 1000 years, by creating a series of tapestries, each focused on a different region of Harris and with a different historical theme.

Without fanfare or ado, here are some shots of the people on my tour. Some are group shots but most are individual portraits, which I enjoy taking. Since many of the people on the trip are weavers, if you see them wearing a beautiful scarf or suit, it’s something they made themselves.

The trip provided good contrasts for weaving–traditional vs. tapestry; old tapestry vs. contemporary tapestry. We visited two contemporary tapestry artists and, although they both do somewhat abstract scenes, their styles do differ. In addition, their methods of working differ.

We first visited Joan Baxter, who lives in a small town along the North Sea, Brora. Actually, she and her husband live on a seven acre nature preserve

One Wednesday we were in Orkney, the night the Orkney Accordian & Fiddle Club meets for its weekly rehearsal. The music was definitely Scottish, but with a few more waltzes and a couple polkas. I think they were picking up the Scandinavian influence. Before they started rehearsal I was wandering around the small harbor across the street and found a plaque with a seafarer’s bit of wisdom (see below). Then I found the hotel and enjoyed the music. This was a delight and the CD I got that night is one of my favorites from the trip. Fortunately, they didn’t mind my taking pictures while they were rehearsing, so I can share the experience with you.

First the snapshots: I started adding photos to the site with the Urban agriculture and foxes posting. In case you haven’t been checking the older postings, I’ve been adding photos to those, too. The titles of the postings have been edited to indicate ones that I’ve added photos to. More to come. Enjoy.

Now, some snap shots, aka short takes, aka quick observations about Scotland and my experience there:

Beltane was such a spectacle of light and color that I’ve got too many pictures to add to my previous posting. So, I’ll put them here.

While in the Borders region the tour group also stopped at a high-speed modern mill. It was fascinating to this factory-tour nut, as we got to walk thru the mill and pretty much see the entire process of weaving from dyeing yarn to quality control of finished fabric. I’ll walk you thru an abbreviated weaving process so you get the idea. Forgive me if this gets a little nerdy, but weaving is a fascinating process and the high-speed mill is really amazing.

Our tour group made a brief stop in Edinburgh. We were there just for an afternoon and part of a morning. I was fine with this, as I planned to return and spend a few days on my own after the tour, and our time there gave me a chance to orient myself to the city.

There is something that many, if not most, tourists do in Edinburgh.

While on the tour bus on Wednesday, I peered thru some trees and saw what looked like a row of sheds. Having read that allotment gardens often have gardeners’ tool sheds, I guessed that I’d found an allotment garden in Edinburgh. Next morning,

Wednesday began with rain, gave sunshine most of the day, then ended with a late rain about 11 pm. I know because I was on Calton Hill celebrating Beltane with thousands of others. I arrived early and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the City of Edinburgh to the west. The castle was silhouetted against a pink and blue sky and the city lights slowly came to light. To the north

Wednesday I left the hostel and found the second hostel where I would spend the next two nights. It was raining, so I opted for an overview of the city with two bus tours covering different parts of the city. I left the second tour mid-way and headed out on foot, starting at the new Scottish Parliament Building. The architecture is controversial, with a very modern design contrasting sharply with the Holyrood Palace across the street.

Less controversial is

I was up early on Tuesday, sharing breakfast with a few “stragglers” from the tour who didn’t have 6 a.m. flights like the others. With great anticipation, I headed out to Falkirk to see The Wheel, one of the reasons I came to Scotland. After a stop at the hostel

Our last day on the tour was a short drive from Ft. William (where, the day before, we were treated to the rare privelege of seeing Ben Nevis, Britian’s tallest mountain, in full glory without its usual cloud cover) to Glasgow. We traveled via Glencoe and Loch Lomond, two lovely spots worth exploring on another visit. Our final visit was to Glasgow’s Pollak Country Park, home of the Pollak House, the Burrell Collection, and a small herd of Highland cattle. The cattle are appealing with

We came back to South Harris after visiting Scalpay and seeing the double width loom. My group was dropped at our guest house and we saw a quite a ruckus in the cove next to the house. I walked over and saw a team of rescuers in dry suits setting up gear to rescue a beached Minke whale. The approximately two-ton whale

When we were at Paisley, we learned the full life cycle of the Paisley shawl industry, from inception to final death of the industry. On Lewis and Harris, we saw an industry that is declining and dying. Like Paisley cottage weaving, Harris Tweed weaving is a cottage industry. But, except for

We ferried to Stornaway on Lewis then headed west across the windswept peat lands to Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. (Don’t ask me what “blackhouse” means. Our tour guide wasn’t sure where the name came from.) This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and this village, with its thatched-roof stone houses, was inhabited until 1974. The village is on the western edge of Scotland, with thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean separating it from North America.

In its later years, that is the mid-20th century, the village was home to

Or, maybe, I should say NOT connecting to the Internet. Since my last posting, we traveled much of the Isle of Lewis and Harris, then returned by way of Ft. William and Glencoe. Connecting to the Internet from the Outer Hebrides is possible but difficult. The guest house

One of the challenges here is connecting to the Internet. I’ve used a few paid Internet connections, but the best place to check email and write my blog is at libraries. My hat is off to the libraries here. They provide free access to visitors–all you have to do is fill out a short form, show some ID and you get a login account and password. So far I’ve used the libraries in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Kirkwall and, now, Ullapool. A special note should be made of the Kirkwall library. It was the first public library in Great Britain, founded in 1683. How’s that for a historical contrast: 1683 to the Internet?

Gotta go to pick up my ferry ticket and cruise town here a bit before the ferry sails. Hope you are all well.

Yesterday we were all on the bus by 7 am and on our way from Kirkwall back to St. Margaret’s Hope to catch the first ferry back to the Scottish mainland. We then wound our way thru the north and northwest of Scotland. This land is ruggedly beautiful. Given the ancient ages of the mountains, they’ve eroded away over the millenia–the tallest mountain in Great Britain, Ben Nevis, is on our itinerary in a few days but it is “only” about 3,500 feet. But, these mountains rise right up from sea level and,

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I’ve been trying to find people here who grow some of the own food in cities, that is, my fellow urban farmers. Because much of this is in private yards, I can’t get into the yards to see what people are doing. This is also early in their growing season. From what people have told me at gardening centers and botanic gardens, there is little winter gardening here, as it is too cold. But, yesterday as I was wandering around, I got a whiff of manure and my pace picked up. I found what looked to be

[Click thumbnail images to see full-sized images.]

We are covering a lot of ground here and are in the rural areas with less Internet access, so my postings will be a mixup of time and space. We arrived late Monday on the ferry from northern Scotland (Gills Bay) to Orkney (St. Margaret’s Hope). Yesterday and today we’ve been on Orkney (actually an archipelago of islands). This place is loaded with history. Yesterday (Tuesday) we

Thursday, Apr 17,  we left Glasgow and headed to the country. Specifically, we headed southeast into the Borders region. This area is notable for it’s sheep and for many nurseries with their greenhouses for growing plants, mostly plants for urban garden centers. We saw lots of

After the Paisley Museum, we made two more stops in Paisley related to textiles. We had lunch at the Sma’ Shot Cottage, a restored weavers cottage. (A “sma’ shot” is a technical weaving term I won’t explain here.) Not all weaving was done with the complicated Jacquard looms. The Paisley weaving industry got its start literally as a cottage industry. Typically, a small cottage would

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Paisley prints were popular in the 60’s (or was it the 70’s?). You remember them (at least those of you my age!); they are the colorful and complex teardrop patterned prints. Wednesday, we visited Paisley Scotland, namesake of the pattern and learned their history. The history of this pattern goes back

Tuesday night several of us piled into a couple of cabs and went to the Arlington, a pub. Our trip leader, Nadine, is a fiddler (among her many talents) and in previous trips had met some musicians who like to play Irish music. She met up with them at the pub, where they played and the rest of us

[Click on any image to see larger image. Note that third and fourth images are closeups of the second image.]

Tuesday, our first day as a group, we headed off to Stirling Castle, one of Scotland’s two best known fortresses. The history tour was interesting, but most fascinating was the tapestry work going on. There is a set of tapestries called the Unicorn Tapestries, now housed at the Metrolopolitan Museum in New York. I’ve seen pictures of them before and they are intricate, albeit somewhat faded and dull in color. That’s the way I thought Medieval tapestries were originally. But today

Sometimes staying in a hostel you meet interesting people, like Tim, mentioned in my “Coffee in the morning” post yesterday. But, sometimes it can be just a little wierd. Last night I went to sleep about 11:30, having the four-bed room to myself. Sometime in the night I vaguely heard someone come in and noticed he had put himself to bed. I don’t know what time it was. I was up about 6:15 to get some breakfast and meet with the tour group. While I was in the bathroom shaving, I heard my roommate get up and looked out to see him in his overcoat walking out. I never said hello over even got a good look at him. He apparently just needed a place to crash for the night so came in, crashed in his street clothes and left early. You have to allow for all sorts of things in hostels, but I’m looking forward to having my own room tonight at the hotel.

[Note: Click on thumbnail images to see larger images.]

After about 6-8 miles of walking around the city yesterday, I relished stopping in the hostel’s cafe, kicking up my feet and having a beer. I didn’t do everything I’d hoped, but had a great walk to and around the Botanic Garden

(see my favorite VERY colorful shot from one of the greenhouses), then had a chicken pesto crepe for lunch on Bryes Road (second photo), which reminded me very much of Shattuck Ave in Berkeley. The University of Glasgow is adjacent to it, and there were bookshops, lots of places to eat and even a subway stop where I caught the tiny train into central Glasgow. Walked through downtown streets overflowing with people, then along the River Clyde, taking pictures of buildings and bridges. The bridges and buildings are an interesting contrast of very old and very new. After a quick stop at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery before they closed, I stopped in Kelvingrove Park on my way back to the hostel and got my best photo of the day, juxtaposing the city’s old and new. When I figure out how to post it here, I’ll do so. In the meantime, I won’t spoil the picture by trying to describe it.

Last night (after the beer) I went to the Heritage Hotel, about a 15 minute walk from here, and met the tour group for dessert and our get acquainted meeting. Today we take off for Stirling, then back here to Glasgow, where I’ll be staying at the Heritage the next few nights. I’m looking forward to getting out of the city a little bit and seeing something new.

I’m at the little cafe downstairs from the hostel, satisfying a craving for a cup of hot coffee and taking a few minutes to write before heading out for the day. Yesterday was a day for the buses (bought a day pass for £3) and trying to find a couple of gardens I’d found online before leaving home. Couldn’t find anything at one location, but still

Well, made it here OK yesterday. Left the office at noon Friday, took BART to SFO, KLM to AMS and again to GLA. AMS, that’s the Amsterdam airport, was a great place to wait a few hours between flights. They have a Vincent van Gogh/Dutch Masters museum, which I did visit, and a meditation room I checked out because I’ve never seen such a thing, but I didn’t go in there. I did see a Muslim praying at his prayer rug and a guy sitting on the floor quietly reading. I might have gone inside, but I’m afraid anything approaching resting would have put me to sleep in minutes. I did keep myself awake all day, until 9 pm (Saturday) Glasgow time when, exhausted, I put myself to bed. But that’s the only jet lag I’ve had. Today I’ve been back to normal and had a good day getting myself oriented to the city’s geography and transit system.

I’m still trying to figure out how to post pictures to the blog. I think I know how in general, but I’m not sure this particular computer will let me do that. For now, BYE, as the cafe is about to close for the night.

First aid kit? Check. Sewing kit? Check. Passport, credit card, debit card, drivers license? Check, check, check and check. Books returned to library? Check. All gels and liquids

I’ll be in Scotland for three weeks. Two of those weeks are very intensely scheduled as part of Nadine’s tour. I wondered what to do with the remaining week (two days before and four days after the tour). I considered heading north to visit Findhorn, or west to visit the Isle of Mull. My friends Ben and Suzanne, after seeing the tour itinerary, suggested I just stay in Glasgow, Falkirk and Edinburgh and enjoy them at a more leisurely pace. They are not only seasoned travelers, but know Scotland, and I decided to follow their advice. So, before the tour I’ll take a couple of days to explore Glasgow and after the tour I’ll take a day to travel to Edinburgh, by way of Falkirk (gotta see the wheel!) then spend three days in Edingburgh before heading back to Glasgow to catch my flight home.

I wanted to know I had a bed when I arrived in Scotland, so

I had to face it: My last trip abroad, to Costa Rica, was a packing disaster. I can blame it on the natural history class I was taking–the soil tester, the knee-high rubber boots, the well-loved-but-not-travel-friendly camera. They were all necessary for the class.

Right. Whatever excuse I make, the truth is that

No, I don’t mean where did I get the money to pay for the trip. I don’t like to borrow money, so all those pennies I’ve been saving for 50 years have added up and the trip will be paid for in cash. But, apparently, it’s not an uncommon approach to “travel now, pay later”; one of my co-workers wished me well on the trip, then commented that I would come back to some big bills. That’s not my way.

What I really mean is

If you slogged thru my “Why Scotland?” post, you know I have interests in eating and growing food, music and weaving. So, imagine my delight when Jan, the wife of a childhood friend, forwarded me an email about a trip to Scotland that focuses on weaving, music and food. Jan was on the trip last year. Nadine, the woman who leads the trip, is from a mid-west farm background, sings and weaves. In fact, for professional purposes, she bills herself as the Singing Weaver. Although I don’t expect my future trips to be tours, this particular one offers the chance to get my feet wet with European travel while exploring three major interests. I couldn’t resist.

Several people have asked me “Why Scotland?” Given that Europe is a big place with so many places to choose for my first foray across the pond, why indeed? I wish I had a short, pithy answer, something other than “Why not?” But, the real reason, in true Scottish fashion, has deep roots and a long story.

Saturday a friend enticed me away from house-cleaning chores to go for a ramble in the East Bay hills at Briones Regional Park. It was a gorgeous spring day with the usually brown (oops, “golden” in Cal-speak) hills a beautiful emerald green and wildflowers just starting to pop out. Of course, I fantasized I was ramblin’ in the hills of Scotland.

My only regret was

I’m behind in my blog, already. Scotland–heck, life–is happening faster than I can write about it. But that won’t stop me from trying. First I’ll write about present activities then go back and fill in a few details about this trip. For those who have traveled to Europe, some of this will be old hat. But for this new traveler crossing the pond, every step of the way is an adventure.

Last week’s adventure was learning about air travel to and around Europe. For travel within the U.S., I’m a creature of habit. Having long-ago decided on

I would have loved the ceilidh for the highland pipes alone. San Francisco’s Stewart Tartan Pipe & Drum Band piped and drummed their way in and out of the hall several times. There was a drummers-only piece and a couple solo pipe pieces. The last piece of the evening was a favorite, Amazing Grace, played on a set of pipes I’ve never seen before. They were smaller and quieter than the traditional war pipes. All in all, a bagpipe lover’s good time.

But, there was more. The local community has