Saturday, 20 September 2014

Coastwalk

Aberlady → Leith

edinburgh.jpg Distance: 16.71 miles
Ascent: 69 metres
Duration: 5 hours 6 minutes

To the future
« Tyninghame | Queensferry »

Today's walk has been slightly surreal. Almost dreamlike.

Some snapshots and two sketches:

furry-friend.jpgA weasel (or was it a stoat?) darting between two clusters of rock beside the path. He didn't stand still long enough for a good photograph.

A boat called "Mr Grumpy".

A disheveled man with a cigarette hanging limply from his mouth taking his monitor lizard for a walk.

yes-we-can.jpgGraffiti along the sea wall, some tongue-in-cheek ("Cameron no more, Osborne no more, Darling no more, Clegg no more"), some providing detailed exposition of economic policies.

A treatise posted on a bus shelter that described why Devo-Max proponents should vote Yes instead of No.

prestonpans.jpgThe sound of bagpipes drifted in the air was we passed Cockenzie power station. In the shadow of this behemoth Jacobite and Government troops gathered, ready to re-enact the Battle of Prestonpans, a key moment in the Uprising of 1745. The image is bursting with potential analogies: the referendum, the battle, the crumbling industrial past.

In 1994 I visited Portabello, Edinburgh's beach. On holiday by myself and about to graduate from university my head was full of possibility. I'd been reading about Windows programming and spent the evening looking at arcade games. I slept in the car and dreamt about my future. After telling Emma this story she said she'd have whispered into the ear of that 23 year old, "It's OK. Your life will work out."

So here we are. In Referendum Week we've walked from England to the seat of the Scottish Government. We've finished the 100th map of the walk so far and have less than 100 left to go.

We're feeling our way forwards into the future. Same as everyone.

pab-em-musselburgh.jpg

Posted by pab at 20:50 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!