The Question ...

This afternoon I had my first beach wander since our return from the mountains of Alberta's Banff and Jasper ~ see the previous nine blogs.

As I sat perched on My Rock at Crescent Beach watching the tide slowly retreat, I thought about our recent trip and the magnificence and beauty of the Canadian Rockies and asked myself this question …

If I was given the choice of either the sea or the mountains which one, would it be …? ~ On the surface, a rather difficult and complex question.

Growing up in Scotland I had both and neither of the two were very far away from where I lived. In a lot of places in Scotland the hills/mountains came with the sea ~ it is crazy to think now, how I took all that for granted.

With reference to my Scottish life, hills and mountains were part of the every day. I lived in top of big hill (the Ontarians would probably call it a mountain…!!!). It was one side of the Clyde Valley, where the City of Glasgow sprawled for endless miles below and far off in the distance on the other side was Ben Lomond (at Loch Lomond) and The Trossachs.

I climbed a few of those hills and mountains, it was a favourite pastime for myself and my dad. We would spend many happy times at the heights, enjoying the views at our level and those of the miniature cars and people at the great distance below us. We would drink the pure and lovely mountain water cascading from the peaks which resulted in the constant streams that never seemed to turn off. Ultimately drinking so much of it, we would be pissing like race horses all the way back down the hillside.

As a history buff, another pleasure I got out of hills and mountains in Scotland was walking through their valleys and glens, imagining the ancient battles that took place there, almost to the point I could hear and see the ghosts of highlanders swinging their claymores and making the charge ~ usually against the English.

As for the sea, that has always played a very important part and constant presence in my life. In Scotland after passing my driving test, if I went missing, I was likely to be found down the coast wandering a beach or sitting on a rock. When I lived in Spain, I sat every lunch time looking out onto the Bay of Biscay, a sight that could also be seen from my apartment. As a wee laddie and into my teen years, I would on a Sunday go out sea fishing aboard Bluebell off the Largs coast and absolutely love every moment of it, even during the cold and windy winters.

I recall very clearly and have chosen never to forget the time when I realized just how important the sea was to me. It occurred not long after I immigrated to Canada on April Fool's Day 1988 and settled in Southern Ontario, suddenly the ocean, the sea was no longer just there at an easy reach ~ it was one of the most awful moments of my life and taught me just how little I knew about myself.

So, back to the plot and the question.

I certainly without any doubt would love the daily beauty of the mountains, but unlike the sea, I could never rest or be at peace beside them, I would always be wanting to wander, hike or climb on them and always to that place a little bit further on, much like we did almost to the borderline of our physical limits recently out west.

If I had to pick one over the other, it would be the sea. While in its presence, I get transported to places that no inland location could ever take me. My thoughts while sitting watching the water can go to depths of thinking that would never be possible at the active pace of the hills. I have found the sea offers much peace and tranquility, the salt air along with the sound of the waves could never be replaced by any mountain scenery. Here locally, I have My Rock which fits my backside perfectly, I have other rocks which over time have become equally as comfortable and onto which I often lie down for a nap. The sea and the coastal areas have more visible wildlife and the rocks can have rock pools, which on certain days provide endless amounts of entertainment when the tide is out.

It is a pity that I could not be offered both the sea and the mountains in the same way I had in Scotland, but unfortunately life is not completely perfect …!!!

Some random pics from today while mulling over the question …