Transitions

Unfortunately our journey began with a rather restless night.  You always want the "sleep of a lifetime" the day before you fly but, alas, didn't happen for Gordon or I.  So we got up at 6:30a.m. and proceeded with last minute preparations before heading to the airport.  Water the plants; make sandwiches; straighten up a bit and pet and kiss the kitty-cat, Sox, good-bye!

Our friend, Alex, who is staying in our house with his wife, Maggie, for almost 6 weeks, picked us up at 9 and we were at the airport checked in and through security by 10:30 for an 11:45 flight.  Quick call to Dad to say a final farewell and to our twin girls, one behind in California and another in Manhattan, and we were waiting for the gate call.

"Anyone with disabilities, please step forward." the gate announcement came.  Well Gordon is still wearing his knee brace and gimping a bit so that could be us right?  Off we go and along with a couple of geriatrics (which, by the way, think applies to us now!) we were comfortably seated in our Economy PLUS seats!  It's worth the extra $150 for the leg room and we were on our way to Newark to meet up with Jillian at our favorite Newark Airport restaurant (I know, weird right?) Gallagher's.

Newark is HUGE and we have come into the last gate in the C1 terminal.  Our Edinburgh flight departs from the C2 terminal but we are to meet Jill at Gallagher's which is the C3 terminal naturally and we have just under 2 hours until our next flight.  So Gordon is hustling along as fast as he can but not quite fast enough and we notice one of those golf cart thingy's with a driver just sitting and waiting so.....we arrive at Gallagher's in style, in a golf cart, and Jillian is cracking up!

A quick catch-up with Jillian, a Caesar salad and Maryland Blue crab cake with a Supertuscan and we are boarding with the disabled on our next flight into Edinburgh, a mere 6 hour flight.  Again, comfortable seats with plenty of legroom behind seats that don't recline!  Yay.  Several various games of cards, pretty good dinner of vegetarian Kafta curry and a glass of red wine and we settle in to watch Life of Pi.  But Jillie and I didn't even make it to where Pi ends up on the raft!  We slept till there was just an hour and a half left of the flight which was GREAT.  Got through passport control, then customs and to our waiting cabbie and down to Moffat before noon.  Let's see, what's that, about 19 hours door to door from the point that we left our house!

Everything at the house is just fine.....exactly the way we left it.  I feel totally like I'm home.  The garden trees have grown quite a bit and the roses and true geraniums are still blooming.  It was overcast and misty, so we made cups of tea, unpacked our bags and settled in to wait for our grocery delivery.  Is it only our family?  When ever we schedule anything and are given a window of time, the delivery or service person always ends up coming at the very last possible minute within our time period!  Needless to say our window for groceries of between 1-3 had us putting the groceries away just after 3.  By then we were in full zombie mode all struggling against plopping into bed or the couch for a long nap but we re-grouped and went down the High Street for a nose around and a couple of pints and dinner at the Star Bar before going to bed.  Bed at 6:30!  Gordon went first and Jill and I were determined to wait till 7 but we just couldn't do it.

Gordon and I slept for 12 hours.  Jillian got up at 3:30a.m.  In the morning Gordon asked if we heard the owl last night and Jillie and I hadn't.  I asked if they heard the fox crying and they hadn't.  We laughed at that.  Apparently we all were awake at various times during the evening.

So Gordon and I had gotten up at 6:30 and Gordon went down for the papers and did a few things around the house -  got the car out of the garage and made sure it was running okay; put our bags into the garage; a few minor house repairs, etc.  Jillian set up her "edit suite" and began editing the second scene of her Trichster film.  And, as usual, I headed to the kitchen and made a vast pot of vegetarian soup and salad dressing for the week.  All before 9 a.m.!  So we got our duds on and went out for a vigorous walk up to Gallow Hill and around and down into town to meet up with Andy, the fishmonger!  But wait, what's this?  A new tea shop in town?  And the proprietor is Sandra Braid.  I had met Sandra when Isa passed and we had been introduced through our friend Maureen.  Sandra prepared all the food and set up the house for Isa's memorial service and did a brilliant job so I was pleasantly surprised to see her new shop and we went in to see what's what and say hello.  A scone for me, scrambled eggs on toast for Jill, a BLT for Gordon and pots of tea all around found us pleasantly satisfied and off to see Andy for fresh, melt-in-your-mouth salmon. 

So I think I've told you before Andy parks his fish truck next to a little shop, Bernardo's, in an alley just off the High Street and you wait in line, er, "cue up" and patiently wait your turn.  Nobody talks in line and your purchase with Andy is done privately, behind the doors of his truck!  The first time I stood in line I was talking to everyone and they all gave me weird looks so now I just stand and wait like everyone else.  Only today, there's an older gentleman that came to stand behind me and it had started to lightly rain so he made a comment on the weather like "I can't believe it's raining."  I looked at him incredulously and said, "your from Scotland and you can't believe it's raining?  It rains every day here!"  He chuckled and asked where I'm from and the conversation (I couldn't even believe I was having one) went quickly to the fires raging in California.  And before I knew it I was up!  "Hi Andy".  He kinda did a double take and then we had our normal conversation about me being back and for how long and how he's doing and how his year has gone.  Such a nice guy.  So he told me he didn't want me waiting in the cue anymore and he would come to the house from now on in the mornings of the days he is in Moffat.  That's really kind of him.

Anyway, we popped in to say hello to Suzanne at the Moffat Shoe Shop; into the green grocers for a few last veggies and herbs and along to the deli to order a veggie quiche for Jill and pick up a couple of cheeses for wine and cheese hour which started promptly at 4!

We actually made it all the way to 11:00pm last night.  We sat outside in the sun for our wine o'clock 2 hours and then took another walk downtown to a couple of pubs and ended up ordering take-out Indian food for our dinner.  While we were waiting for our food we took a dark evening stroll through the cemetery in town before we headed back up the hill with our Indian curries.  I fell asleep on the floor and Jill on the couch while trying to watch "Bend it Like Beckham" so we ended our day at 11:00.

We had second night sleep syndrome last night though and all of us slept a bit fitfully so today we are a moving a little slowly.  Late start on our walk past Frenchlands, up to Jennie's view, over Rogermoor and up to Alton Hill.  Jillian brought her GoPro and made me wear it and now she's transcoding our walk so we can view it and possibly use the film for something?  Gordon has had his tea and soup and is napping and I'm prepping for a dinner party here tomorrow night with our friends Maureen and Hunter.

It's still misting heavily here in Scotland.  It's sweater weather and we have officially made the transition from our California hot summer into Moffat's fall-like summer and that's fine with us.  The lush and various shades of green trees and shrubbery against the old stone houses is lovely.  There's nothing dry or golden here, unlike California.  Hanging baskets and pots are brimming full of fuschia, begonias, petunias and lobelia.  The Rowan trees have set their red berries and for the first time we have berries on our young Rowan.  We are protected from witches! Thank God. 

We are happy and comfortable and content in our little abode just waiting to see what we might do next!  What walk, what weather, what interesting little Scottish person?