Halcyon days

Having spoken so much about the hardships of Rum something nags at me...the more I write about them the more I know I'm leaving something out: the days when Rum is truly the paradise so many visitors hope to find.

Days of dazzling - and hot! - sunshine in the early morning, wandering up the glen and swimming in the cold river..clambering across the rocky river bed which has nearly dried up in the heat (and falling into the remaining deep pools now and again). Days when the swallows dart over the wild flowers growing in our untamed meadows and chickens sit on the picnic benches to get a better view of the insect life.  Days when nothing can be heard except the wind in the trees and the bees buzzing in and out of the lupins.  Days when the boats sail across the horizon and we dream of climbing mountains in a cooler season. Days when the clouds rush across the landscape and we can look across Kilmory Bay to Skye and freewheel down the hill back to "our castle". Days when you can look out the window and see Lesley going for a walk with a pony, or Mr Rhys singing with his wheelbarrow, or deer antlers sticking up from the meadow where the deer think they are hiding, and laugh because it is just so funny living here.

Summer.  I know winter will come and still I don't have a plan - though I have lots of plans - but our summer days make it so easy to live in the moment, perhaps I don't need one.