Roaming
So there’s a lot going on in the world right now, what with lockdown and uncertainty about the future, and the questions we’re all asking ourselves following the death of George Floyd in America and the resulting protests there and here in the UK. Although we’re far removed from these geographically, we do watch the news and use social media.
It’s made me think about, and realise what ‘privelege’ actually means. This morning there’s a lot of talk about the removal of statues linked to the slave trade. I personally think that they should be taken down. I also think children should be taught about the slave trade and black history as part of the curriculum.
It’s difficult to comment on this for fear of saying the wrong thing, but it’s important to educate ourselves and our children, and to learn more about racism and inequality. People are sharing resources on Instagram for this and I will be exploring some of them with Joe.
Speaking of Joe (and education): homeschooling. How are we doing with it? Not too bad. Not going to lie, I’m looking forward to the summer holidays starting officially so we can shelve it. But we’re enjoying some parts (art projects, science) and enduring others (maths, spelling and grammar). Fortunately, Joe’s pretty fast at maths and he knows that if he buckles down he can get his work out of the way quickly.
And the latest bundle of work was delivered to the back door by his teacher along with some lovely local eggs and salad leaves.
I’ve been printmaking and sketching, and making plans for workshops. I’m going to be running them at a local small hotel once things get back to normal, and no doubt teaching more sessions at the library. I’m also looking into curating seasonal markets.
And I’m mastering meringues. I want to make those big, cloud-like ones you see in nice coffee joints and posh farm shops. Why meringues? Because I’m eating low carb. I put on weight at Christmas, and a bit more in New York, and a bit more during lockdown. Unfortunately if you have Hashimotos disease it’s very easy to gain weight and incredibly difficult to lose it. But low carb (not no carb, or keto - too extreme) is pretty effective for me personally.
And yes, meringues contain a lot of sugar. But I’m not planning on eating them on a daily basis. And I’m happy to share them with Jay and Joe.
The ‘middle’ bedroom in our house is where my clothes live. And I’ve hung my currently too small jeans up in a prominent place to provide motivation.
So, ‘roaming’. We’re now allowed to go within 5 or so miles of home for exercise.
What you get within a 5 mile radius in more populated places isn’t what you get on Skye. Five miles can span bleak moorland and not much else. Travelling is a part of life here. I’m sure my friends down south would be horrified at the thought of driving 22 miles after school for a swimming lesson, then all the way back again. But you don’t have dual carriageways and junctions and queues here. You have mountains and the sea.
We’ve roamed a little bit, getting in the car and still staying local. It’s hard knowing that places which are usually swarming with visitors are now empty. We’d normally avoid them until late autumn, but now they’re quiet and yet we can’t go.
But we have plenty here. We’ve walked up beyond the village and discovered the ghost of an old campsite, complete with derelict office and shower block, now overgrown and surrounded by firs. We’ve been down to the beach at Stein and explored the rockpools. We’ve walked down to Bharcasaig beach and up along the forest track, and wandered around the wooded paths at Orbost.
The weather has been mostly sunny, but this being Skye, it’s very changeable so we’ve had the odd hail shower thrown in (and been caught out in one). The midges are here too. It’s fine when its windy or hot, not so much when it’s cool and damp and still.
There are lots of birds coming into the garden - we have a pair of blackbirds and a robin or two who are regular visitors, and finches and bluetits. I’m not as keen on the noisy crows who like to hang out in the giant sycamore out front. It gets light before 4am, and still isn’t dark by 11pm. So there’s much squawking (them) and disruption of sleep (us) in the early hours and yes, I do fantasise about procuring an air rifle.
There’s a telephone wire right outside the bedroom window, and last week two swallows were perched on it. I saw them when I was making the bed - they must have been only two feet away, and they didn’t spot me. I’ve never seen a swallow up close but they were very pretty with their red faces and black eyes.
We’re going into town for the shopping this afternoon, and I’m hoping to have a walk around the Viewfield garden. The little garden centre next to it has just reopened, but I like to explore the woods and the plot used by volunteers to plant fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. The camera always comes along.
Scotland is coming out of lockdown more gradually than England. I don’t know when things will begin to feel normal again. I don’t know whether school will reopen for five days a week once the holidays are over.
I’m supposed to be heading down to Lancashire in August to see friends and family, but again I don’t know if that will happen. Jay’s still off work. We don’t know when he’ll be called back in. Hopefully it’s a case of when and not if.
There’s a lot we don’t know.
So we just keep on going, and hoping we come out of this OK. And in the meantime we don’t get anxious about these things in front of Joe if we can help it. We try to enjoy this strange epoch in our lives and we stay safe.
