Friday 20 July 2012

Kayaking

Shadowed by the policeman of a lingering pod of orca, shallow into the shore of an appointed camping spot.  Being tail-flipped into a series of rollicking capsizes by a playful dolphin, off the rocky extremities of Cape Wrath.

Two anecdotes told with relish by a consummate storm-going veteran of the outdoors.

He'd rounded our tents as we packed up for the early ferry.  What time did it leave? We shared our journey in German and English, back from Castlebay, through Oban to Glasgow.

I asked whether he had ever written about his experiences.  No, only his log books.  There were other writers.

Some refuse to accept the wild sea and land as unwelcoming realms,  but respectfully occupy their own place amongst other creatures and weather fronts.

We fixed his phone and I gave him a postcard drawn at Howmore a few days before.

4 comments:

tanjawilmot said...

I admire your generosity in parting so lightly with these lovely drawings...and had an enjoyable graze of your blog this fine evening.

straight from the den said...

I find it easier to give them away when i've just done them - longer they get held on to the more difficult it becomes.

Thank you for visiting, and commenting!

tanjawilmot said...

yes, know what you mean. is it maybe that right after, we feel less satisfied with the work, but in time, we can more easily see that actually, it's not so bad...? that's true for me, anyway.

straight from the den said...

for me it's a bit different...i absolutely can't give away those that i'm not at all satisfied with (i'm at least a little bit unsatisfied with all of them!).

but the longer i hold on to drawings the more they become a record of where i was, or linked to the memory of a particular day. so i then find it difficult to part with them.

i sometimes have regretted giving away quite so many:i have come home from a trip with hardly any drawings, having done lots of them!

you're right though - some improve with time.