Renewal and roots

These photographs were taken around my home town (? - home village doesn't sound right, but Catrine has always been a village and if anything is shrinking rather than growing) in Ayrshire at Christmas in 2004. The smoke in the bottom right-hand corner is from the lum of a waste disposal plant reeking on the very site of the coalmine my father worked in from the age of 15. The sun may start to set at 15:00, but before it does the light is quite special.

Coincidence or evidence of global warming, the scenery was a different colour this year, I mean in 2007. Zut, it’s already ‘last year’, projected into the past (so soon, so soon).

It took us 24 hours to get to Scotland and five hours to get back. We had a bonus night in Frankfurt as part of our trip, courtesy of fogbound London airports. British Airways put us up at the Sheraton hotel, but didn’t give us our bags. Reminds me of when Mary was visiting me in France from Glasgow and her flight was postponed so often the possible arrival times took a whole column on the kitchen whiteboard.

I went for a walk along the newly created River Ayr Way, a section of which starts at my parents' front door. I bumped into my brother, who had a real camera with him and took some pictures, including the close-ups of Sorn castle and the one below. I thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting my roots, but I don't know if I enjoyed it quite as much as Carly! I sincerely hope we can all get our paws off the gound this year!