Crossapol

Wifie and Gus walking and reflecting on the wet, glassy sand of Crossapol beach.  The beach goes on for ever, the biggest of the 20+ sandy beaches on the small island of Coll in the Inner Hebrides.

Way beyond Wifie's right shoulder is Crossapol house, where Mairi Hedderwick (author and illustrator of the Katie Morag books) lived and raised her young family from 1965.  There was no road to the house, just a two mile drive along the beach; there was no electricity, while water was drawn from a well.  One day she met someone on the beach who turned out to be an editor for Macmillan books, she invited him back for a cup of tea; and impressed by the artwork on her walls, he signed her up as an illustrator and her publishing career began.  Katie Morag is not set on Coll, but on a fictional island called Struay, though it is inspired by people and places on the island where Mairi has lived for three separate spells in her life.

As we walked along the beach, there was a small flock of sanderlings in clockwork toy mode feeding on the tidelines, racing in and out with the ebb and flow of the waves.  See the additional photo.

It's now nearly four weeks since we were on Coll, and alas, this is the first blip from our stay there.  There are a few too to backblip from the week before in Mull.  I'll get there eventually.