Country Diary

I found the following quotation in the latest issue of The Guardian Weekly.

As the ferry returns to Corran, my gaze lingers over Loch Linnhe’s glassy surface.

“These peninsulas take the water between thumb and finger / like women feeling for the smoothness of yard goods.” Wrote Elizabeth Bishop in her poem, The Map. While she didn’t mean precisely here, between the water’s sheen and my revised grasp of local geography, I can see exactly what she meant.”

This resonates with me on several fronts. I enjoyed the reference to Elizabeth Bishop (EB). It brings to mind the efforts of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia and Great Village. It also reminds me of Elizabeth Bishop House and the archival guide to her life in Nova Scotia by Sandra Barry (see my posts One, Two Three, Two Conversations, and Reading Where We Live)

Second, the reference to EB brings to mind the role of West Dalhousie in the life of Ernest Buckler (another EB).

Here we are connecting Scotland (the West Highlands) and New Scotland i.e. Nova Scotia. We are also connecting the sense of place, across both sides of the Atlantic.

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On Fridays, Heather and I are able to attend classes at CORAH. For Heather, it’s Chair Yoga and for me it’s Mens’ strength and fitness. These opportunities for ‘rural aging in place’ contrast with the distractions/frustrations of a mixture of online learning and global politics.

Reference

The Guardian Weekly 25 October 2024, p.62. Country Diary Ardnamurchan, West Highlands, Scotland, UK by Mary Montague.

Acknowledgements

Sandra Barry is a cornerstone of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia. Edward Wedler added the graphics and links. Heather Stewart shares my ‘sense of place’ across the two continents.

Postscript.

From my perspective, the blog is, in its own way ‘A Country Diary’.