During the locked down weeks and months of 2020, I walked to this harbour often. And whenever I was here, there were always other people doing the same: standing at the sea wall, gazing out to sea, or sitting on a bench, quietly absorbing the view across the harbour.
Indeed, it’s been a minute. Not wanting to sound like a broken record writing, ‘I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post…’ but, well, I can’t. But it’s been a busy (and good) few months. I’ve started a new freelance gig – very part time, but, like anything new, I’ve spent a lot of time on it and have been really enjoying it. And given that the new gig is in social media (with a focus on Instagram), my brain has been too overloaded with words (and images) to be here too.
But I’ve missed sitting down and writing. Just writing. Not for anyone else, not for a deadline; just for the pleasure of it. So it’s time to get back here.
It looked like rain when we parked at Gullane, the clouds heavy and brooding out over the Forth, and the forecast was for thunder. We really didn’t want to risk that when out with the lads, particularly Bracken, but the rain looked like it was far enough away to chance it. We’d planned to walk east along the coast, towards Eyebroughy, on our usual weekend route, but by the time we’d crossed the dunes the first drops of rain were falling. And little wonder as we stood on the edge of the dunes, looking at the clouds stretching across the water. You could feel it in the air: the weight of the rain above us, and I ran down onto the beach to take a few photos before the heavens opened.
My previous post was titled Last Light at North Berwick, while this one edges just along the coast to the neighbouring beach with a last-light walk at Yellowcraig from Sunday evening. And, for readers who are on the subscriber list to this blog, this is a ‘hello again’ post. It’s been a while. I removed the subscriber list when I stopped writing about interiors here, but as I’ll be spending more time on the blog now (and I’ll explain why in a later post), I wanted to add the subscribe option again for anyone who’d like to follow along with these walks.
I started a series of stories on Steller a few weeks back from this walk at Gullane Point, which has become one of our favourite walks in the last year or so, and I thought I’d share some of those photos here too. Aside from driving horizontal rain – as we try to avoid walking anywhere in horizontal rain! – I reckon we’ve experienced this walk in every other type of weather, from the frozen and blustery days when the wind is literally whipping along the clifftop section of the walk, to the wintry days of ice and snow, when you can feel the temperature dip even further as you reach the sheltered beach, to balmy evenings when the sea is completely calm and the sky is glowing gloriously orange.
As I write this on Thursday afternoon, sitting at my desk with this week’s deadlines happily behind me while listening to the wind blustering around outside, I can definitely say that this is where I’d rather be. Yes, even on a stormy day! Always, basically. I realise that my previous post here was also from Yellowcraig, but we had a long weekend off over Easter, and the weather was kind to us. And last Friday’s walk here was beautiful – just so calm, and with this gentle light over the water as afternoon eased into evening. The kind of day we’ve longed for over the winter months.
Hello and welcome to Copperline. My name is Fiona Reid and this is my blog about coastal living in Scotland.