Expedition North

I was 100% certain I had my house keys. Would have bet big money on it. I had been tapping my top pocket at intervals all day to make sure that they where still there, worried that the zip may come undone. Yet here I anxiously find myself with no keys! Well...not exactly true. There are keys, just not the ones I need to get into the cottage. 

So now I must patiently sit it out in my car till another member of the family returns. Five satellites, one shooting star, two damp cold feet and three hours later... Losing/misplacing stuff happens far too regularly in my life...​

My morning on the other hand had begun dreamily, an early start waiting in my car at an agreed rendezvous point for my friend Mark Chalmers. The rain heavily and hypnotically battering down and threatening to ruin the day. Undeterred by the precipitation, we made our way Northwards to Rannoch, hoping to outrun the weather. Our mission? Catch up, explore, take photos, eat good food.

It was a reflective and calm expedition, the road trip was relaxed. Conversation with Mark is easy, we always have lots to talk about. Work, family, exploring, cameras and other miscellaneous geeky shit. He is an encyclopaedic phenomenon. That said, we are equally happy to be in each others company in silence, and today there was much to be in reverence and respectfully silent to:

• The swollen waterways that threatened to break their banks
• The weather that was welcoming one minute then hostile the next
• The wildlife 
• ​The autumnal palette
• The diversity of mushrooms in a woodland glade ​

I didn't realise how much I was needing to be outdoors till I was here! At several points I had to embrace the sky and fill my lungs deeply with the moist earthy atmosphere. The natural environment was restorative, though I noted that if I had lain in it's arms overnight, it would have killed me.