The Shape of Love in a Wild Landscape...
There was a time…
When it was just me…
and the Highlands.
No schedules…
No itineraries…
No one to answer to.
Just the mountains…
The glens…
The rivers…
The beaches…
And the wind, the rain…
carrying stories
that have lived here for centuries.
I was younger then.
Strong.
Endless.
I could walk for hours…
Chasing light…
Chasing storms…
Chasing the quiet…
that only these hills can give.
It was simple then.
Pure.
Unconditional.
Now…
I am older…
Weaker…
More Fragile…
Fragile in ways I never imagined.
Every step on a ridge aches…
Every storm feels heavier…
Every sunrise…
A little harder to reach.
And yet…
The Highlands do not turn away.
They do not judge.
They still hold me.
Still accept me.
Just as I am—
Aged…
Fragile…
Tired…
But still in love with them and they me….
I bring others here…
To feel what I feel…
To see what I see…
Sometimes…
They do.
Sometimes…
They do not.
I hear the cold…
The wet…
The wind…
The radiator that doesn’t work.
The tea that isn’t warm enough.
The Wi-Fi that drops out.
And my heart aches.
How can a land that has endured centuries of wind,
Of sorrow…
Of human struggle…
Be measured by these small comforts?
And yet…
There are moments…
Moments that cut through the weather …
A participant stops mid-step.
Camera lowered. Eyes wide.
Sunlight spills across a distant peak.
A gasp at a river winding through a valley.
Silence…
Not a photograph.
Just breath.
Taken in.
Held.
Remembered.
In that moment…
I remember why I continue.
Why I still guide.
Why I still bring people to these beautiful landscapes…
The Highlands reach them.
Quietly.
Patiently.
And they feel it.
Still…
I long for those early days.
When it was just me.
The mountains.
The glens.
The wind in my face…..
The solitude…
The devotion…
The love… unbroken and unconditional.
I am tired now.
Older…
Weaker…
Fragile.
And yet…
I love them still.
Unconditionally.
The Highlands still hold me.
Still accept me.
Still love me—
All my age…
All my fragility.
And I love them back.
All my life.
I wish you were here.
I wish we all could be here…
Just as we are.
With the wind…
The hills…
The rivers…
The Coastlines…
The sky…
And the simple, unshakable love
That has held me all my life.
I am getting older, yes. A little more tired, a little more reflective. But as long as I can walk these hills—slowly or otherwise—I will keep inviting people to come with me.
Because the Highlands are worth sharing.
And I believe, with all my heart, that there are many more people out there who are ready to feel their magic.
