It feels like no time since I was writing my previous post here, but that was a few weeks ago, just before we were about to have a two week-long break. It’s a funny thing having a holiday when you don’t have work to return to. Obviously, you’re carrying the worry and all the uncertainty with you. But we had day trips and long coastal walks in the evenings. We went to Fife and Perthshire and the Trossachs. We didn’t do everything we’d planned, but that’s life when you’re feeling a bit tired and stressed, right? I thought I’d blog throughout the break, but ended up editing photos from our walks, and once I’d done that I wasn’t tempted by any more screen time. And that was fine.
But now I’m back at my desk and have lots to share, starting with this simple moment from our visit to Crail. Our East Neuk trip was a bit rushed as we hit tailbacks and a diversion on the way and ended up doing a Cambo-Crail-Elie route where our time in each was abbreviated. Still, it felt good to revisit a few places we haven’t been to for a while.
If you know Crail, you’ll probably know this wynd as it leads to Crail Pottery, which is always a favourite destination for us. Years and years ago, we tried to buy a tiny wee house on the right here, just out of shot, but the mortgage situation was complicated and it never happened. Now, whenever we walk down this lane, we look at that house and wonder: how would life have worked out differently had we got it? It’s one of those Sliding Doors moments. The house was affordable even if the deposit wasn’t (if that makes sense) and it would have been a catalyst for change.
But then we might not have had these years of coastal walks in East Lothian. I might never have found my ‘home’ at John Muir Country Park. This lane, Rose Wynd, always makes me wonder about what could have been, but also what we might never have had.
Crail, Fife, August 2022.
