Today I was reminded of a moment from July 1971
…
As a 10-year-old along with my parents, I was thoroughly enjoying my
first visit to the North West Highlands of Scotland, a
beautiful location which over the following years created many great and
lasting memories for me.
The “moment” which surfaced this afternoon
while out locally for a wander, it was a memory of our first drive from the highland village of Gairloch to Poolewe in Wester Ross. While driving over the brow of a hill, we were suddenly met by the magnificent and stunning view of Loch Maree. I remember my
dad pulling over and stopping the car, then both of us getting out to admire the picture-perfect vista in front of us. While standing there, he said to me ~ “listen” ~
after a brief bewildered instant I said ~ “listen to what, I can’t hear
anything” ~ he replied ~ “yes you can, it's called the sound of silence …” At that moment
perhaps for the first time in my life, I heard the total and absolute sound of silence
which was beautiful, unique and special.
Late this afternoon, I decided to go for a
wander to the slightly overcast LaHave Islands. With an extremely low tide and a light mist, the
beautiful sound of complete tranquil silence, instantly reminded me of that
special moment shared with my dad from far too many years ago ~ I know that he would have
loved it today.
Below are two photos of Loch Maree, the first
one was taken by me during September 2019. The second photo in black and white
was probably from the early to mid-1940’s. I found this one in my dad’s Army Photo
Album, which he compiled during his service in Malaya. The handwritten caption for the
photo says, “Ginger’s home in Gairloch”.
The photos below are from today’s visit to the Lahave Islands, can you hear ~ The Sound of Silence …?
