The World is Thin

Nora's voice has been swimming around my head. "The world is thin," she says, and my head wanders.

...

We kicked off our month of out-of-city adventures with our weekend trip to the magical Isle of Skye. Really, the Isle of Skye is among Scotland's most popular excursions for its picturesque (as you'll see) landscapes and stories that come alive in your imagination while you drive through its rolling hills. Kicking off the post with some beautiful shots from Day 1 and incorporating some Highland Folkloric tales that connect to sites from the end of our tour at the end. Make sure to check out my traveling bud's awesome video from this trip here!

Loch Lomond: the largest loch in Great Britain

Luss, Scotland: a village on west bank of Loch Lomond

Loch Tulla, Scotland

The Three Sisters, Glen Coe: these peaks form part of Bidean nam Bian

Eilean Donan Castle: built in the 13th century and the film location of the subpar rom-com, Made of Honor

Hiking spot off of Glen Coe: we were able to slosh our way up this hill, looking back at Glen Coe, this bridge and a waterfall cascading far below the cliff. 

Caisteal Moal Ruins, Kyleakin
This castle was originally built for the Mackinnon clan and acted as a fortress between Skye and the mainland of Scotland

Dopey Smile, Almost Stuck
On our way to check out the Caisteal Maol Ruins a minimum of 7 people warned Nora and I that the tide was coming in. Implying 1) we should be careful 2) the water level was only going to rise 3) we should not try and get to the ruins
Four: I was going to make it to those ruins--partially to spite everyone before me, but mostly to check out some sick ruins and the view at dusk. As you can see, I did make it.

Kyleakin, Isle of Skye
..and the view was incredibly worth it.
But as it turns out, all those people before me were right, and Nora was probably smarter to stay back on the beach. After having explored, I figured I should make my way back to Nora. I crawled over some algae covered rocks, loving how agile, and just freaking awesome I felt. I'm in Scotland just climbing up rocks to get to old ruins, so cool!! Well, there came a point where the rock that had gotten me to the island was now four or five inches under the surface of the water--not great. I slipped, my foot fell into the water, and my torn rain boot filled with water so that I could hear a slosh in my shoe. Shocked into the very real reality of tide indeed rising, I quickly assessed how many not-water proof valuables I had on my person, and calculated how much of my person I was willing to get wet. A tossed bag, 2 soaking shoes later, and a game of what felt like real life 'lava', I was guided back onto dry land. 

Saucy Mary at Caisteal Maol [reenactment]
Legend has it a Norse princess once lived at this castle and controlled the waterway below. She would charge a toll to any boat making its way through the channel. In exchange, she would give them a "royal flash" as a sign of gratitude--earning her the nickname of "Saucy Mary." It only felt right that after having squirmed my way back to land I face and royally flash the ruined castle Saucy Mary herself once made famous. 

Sligachan River, Scotland
There was once a beautiful woman who was to be married to the most handsome man of another clan to end the tensions between them. On her way to her betrothed, however, the woman was thrown off her horse and her face terribly scarred. Once her betrothed looked under her veil, he felt cheated and thus felt entitled (hmph) to beat and throw out his then 'wife' and her helper--who he also beat. While the two made their way back to their village, distraught and in tears, the fairy stopped to help them. Having been moved by their story, she told the lady and her helper place their faces in the river she had enchanted for seven seconds. The magic of the water would not only heal their scars and recover their beauty, but preserve it as such for as long as they lived.
So when it came to it, Nora and Laura went dunk dunk dunk. 

Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye
Like many of the old men in our lives, this Old Man also has a lot of stories to tell. In Scottish folklore, giants are a common mythical creature and what better place to use and mold into their stomping ground than this beautiful Isle? It's believed that one of these giants ceased to live one day and was buried into the earth with nothing but his thumb peeking out toward the sky.
And, for you softies out there, another story claims there was a young couple that would climb this mountain together and spend hours talking, looking across the Glen and Lochs below, and pouring love and life into one another, above the clouds higher than anyone else. As time passed, however, the woman aged, so that climbing this mountain became much to difficult for them. Seeking help from a deceitful temptress, the old man wished to be placed at the top of the mountain with his loved one for one last time. To this day, you can still see the Old Man in rock form, with the Old Lady (less acknowledged, but a favorite of mine), facing the wind and storms that give them their form. 

 ...

 Here is where we (finally) come back to my conversation with Nora that prompted this blog. How is it that a people select their national animal to be a unicorn, a mythical creature (@ Scotland)? After traveling through the Isle of Skye with its misty fog looming over the tops of mountains, rainbows peeking through the clouds and hugging the rolling hills together--its not entirely unbelievable for one to begin to conceive the unbelievable up here. How did all of these stories of magic, of promise, of parallel realities come to exist? There is something magical here, something in Skye that wills people to open their minds and creative energies to perceive the surreal. 

In our day to day lives we move through a constructed reality--one that keeps us grounded and focused on fulfilling the roles we embody as students, as workers, as members of a community. "In some places the world is thinner than others, and in those places its easier to cross between worlds." Bear with me now, but in distancing ourselves from our individual realities as we construct them, we open our minds to other perspectives, other ways of living and perceiving. The world is magical--maybe not in the sense that any of our Hogwarts letters will ever come (my apologies if that was too rough), but in the sense that if we allow ourselves, there's potential to make our lives and ourselves a little more magical, too.  

xx

Reminding myself every day that

we

are

lucky