There are people ...

A thought kept repeating itself in my mind today: there are people who will never experience this - and they don’t even know about it. I was hiking up Glen Sannox, no longer intending to climb out of it via The Saddle (too far past my sell-by for that) but looking forward to a halt at the head of this perfect glaciated glen where the burn slides over the rocks. I would look up at where I had been on Friday, and be satisfied. The grey morning sky began to open out above the glen as we put on our boots, and from then on the day was perfect.

Because my entry from yesterday was so blighted by exhaustion, I thought I’d try to share the experience as it happened. The following is what I jotted down as I sat beside the burn:

This burn has flowed like this since the glaciers receded and yet it seems new-sprung from the rocks above. Its noise fills my head, and yet there are different tones, liquid chords underscoring the stillness of the glen. Above me, the jagged ridge anchors flimsy pennants of cloud in an otherwise blue sky, and the afternoon sun is hot on my arms. On the slopes, dazzling plates of rock gleam wet with the water that will in time flow past me where I sit, cradled in the heather, in this, the best of places under heaven.