This day exceeded all our expectations there's nothing more to be said but just shown
STORIES of the day:
This New World We Find Ourselves In
by Aileen Paterson
Light and shadow on the hills, the trees green and abundant. The water lapping the boat as we course through it, making our way out into the world once more with all the burden of the last year still to shed. It has entered our bones. It has tethered us to spaces that are too small to contain us. Spaces we have had to shrink to fit, to rein in our dreams and our longings.
Now released, my dreams expand to fill the sky. They permeate the deep water of the loch, stretch ahead of me to Inversnaid. They fly over the tops of the mountains. They run with the deer, and climb over stony paths with the goats.
The boat carries us away from the hard edges of our shrunken world, the solitude that has crushed us. Away from a world where we dare not even voice our longings. Dark clouds chase us, but ahead there is blue sky and hope. The flow of water over stones, the rush of the waterfall. Damp moss and small leaves growing from the bark of the tree leaning over the water. Rhododendrons pink and purple and ferns growing from rocks. White froth and bubbles on the river, the touch of bark under my fingers, connecting me to the earth, the rocks, the sky.
The engine stops and we drift for a while, sunlight glinting off the water. Gentle ripples against the boat, a soft breeze as the sun comes out. The distant hum of traffic. I want to stay here, with the water protecting me from the harshness of the outside world, from too much control. What shards of longing might we reclaim as we embark on the rest of our lives? The sun on my face and somewhere the birds are singing. What new roads are forming beneath our feet?
Here, there’s an endless conversation between hills and sky, the eagles circling above, finding gaps in the clouds to make dark shapes against the bluest sky.
Sunlight and shadows moving on the hills. Lines etched in the rocks like an ancient language I am yet to learn, but felt when I pressed my hand against the mossy bark of the tree, when I listened to the river. The land telling its story The flow of life unsuppressed by any lockdown. Stories flow through me too, demand to be told. They emerge as marks on a page, words that form on my lips. Life exerting itself, creating spells to shape this new world we find ourselves in.
Some Haikus
by Debbie Macrae
golden eagles soar
sky dancing above the Loch
bluebells on the brae
submerged in nature
drenched in words: Waterstory
takes us to the Loch
The dark, deep, dangerous loch
by John Young
The dark, deep, dangerous loch; what lives beneath your glassy calm veneer?
Diving into your cold water and screaming in ecstatic shock ;feeling alive at last.
Tethered to our home harbours for what seems like an eternity, to visualise the broccoli dark clumps of trees.
Gliding effortlessly on our water carriage of words,
The silence only broken by birds chirping and motorcycles booming.
Pylons blight the
Postcard, picture, perfect scene; the eagle soaring over ben lomond majestic, outdoors again; zoom is a fading dream.
The trees swirl effortlessly in the cool summer simmering Scotchweegia sun.
Still the Engines
by Cap'n Bev
I cut the engine.
Silence enfolds our raft of writers
in a cocoon of other worldliness.
Even the hum of traffic on a distant road
serves only to turn us slow on our spindle of still
between the high banks of the loch.
Like my writers I blink long and slow under tilted lids,
one ear cocked skyward for the same sounds heard by
highlander and Hopkins, Wordsworth and Scott… Inversnaid.
Yet my calm is short lived.
The captain who cuts engines mid-loch ever frets
that the reassuring thump
may never start up again.
Thanks to you all ...
... for your heartening feedback as always!
Sally: A wonderful day, thank you, thank you. Ruth and I so enjoyed it. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty, my pulsing brain could not put pen to paper, but the beauty, Bev, was breathtaking, along with remeeting Kenneth.
Di: Thanks for a great day.
Debbie: Waterstory on Loch Lomond simply offers an entirely different dimension, surrounded by stunning inspirational scenery, encouraged by a wonderful guest writer in Kenneth Steven.
Thank you so much Bev. Kenneth was delightful and insightful!
Caroline: Thank you so much... I absolutely loved the experience. There was so much to see, hear and feel before during and after the sail. Senses were alight which transferred onto the page. Your knowledge and sharing of both the environment and history were second to none.
Aileen: Thank you Captain Bev and all who made this amazing trip possible. After being stuck in a small flat with no outdoor space for most of the last year and a bit, I desperately needed this trip, Kenneth Steven was inspiring and nurturing and we were very well looked after by all the crew. I really hope more trips will be possible as we all try and recover our physical and mental wellbeing, this is so needed.
Mary: Thank you so much for yet another wonderful day out... It was lovely to see everyone again.
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| Diana Davies painted this from Sheila's photo - fabulous! |
This was the planning part>>>>
At last Water Story writers we are getting back out on the boats! With Glasgow shifting to a Tier 2 on Saturday 6th June we're hoping all will feel comfortable coming out. Careful Covid guidelines will still be in place and careful cognisance of government guidelines will always be applied to Water Story events. Here are some helpful links with personal testing advice and rules for "therapeutic" groups that have been followed during the planning this particular event.
Cruise Loch Lomond are extending a warm welcome to Water Story - please be reassured that they have always implemented rigorous sanitisation procedures (we will go through this on the pier) and careful track and trace but have not, as yet, had to implement isolation via track and trace.
We are delighted to welcome
as our guest author for the day (thanks to Lapidus Scotland)
I've asked him to bring some copies of his second edition of "Iona" just out - bring your purse if you'd like your very own signed copy
Schedule for the Day
1000 Gather on Tarbet pier (G83 7DE); arm yourself with an outstanding coffee from the bothy
1015 board our vessel and meet Kenneth Steven for your first reading and introduction
1045 set sail for Inversnaid with safety talk from Cap'n Bev
1100 reading and prompt from Kenneth en route
1115 arrive Inversnaid and disembark for short walk - 30 minutes
1145 back on board for more from Kenneth and a gentle tour of the north of the loch
1230 moor up at Tarbet and share writing
1315 farewell and finish
Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership's "Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund" (managed by Impact Funding Partners).
Outstanding day.
ReplyDeleteHopefully more again this year