Having grown old with Grace, KG..?15 7 2 (64) 25 5 28
No, only joking! But of all the people I met during
my long vacation this American young lady KG impressed me more than most from
the outset: sitting as we were with my wife in this self-caterers' hostel's
kitchen-cum-dining room eating dinner together with a few glasses of wine, when
she and her male companion returned from probably eating dinner at one of the
hotel restaurants in the town, unnecessarily apologising profusely for
disturbing us so engaged, and quickly passing through on their way to reach
their mixed dormitory accommodation beyond...
Coming down from our upstairs accommodation I
shared with A-E my wife next morning it was soon established we were the only
guests staying there as we each went about the business of preparing breakfast
and exchanging small talk about our respective reasons which brought us to just
this particular hostel, etc etc etc... such was the confined nature of the
kitchen and otherwise that to have avoided any kind of commerce would have been
almost impossible.
KG had invited Garrett to join her for this her
first visit to Scotland where they were following one of Scotland's many
trails, exceptionally staying the odd night in a hostel whilst most of their
over-nights were spent in a tent they carried in their enormous rucksacks, she
returning to the USA a few days later than he because she had another project
which was to visit her Scottish Clan's Castle, located as it was on an island,
where by coincidence A-E and I had already visited: not as clan members but
simple tourists which meant we were able to give some insider-information about
the place...
And the weather this particular May among the worst
for its almost daily down-pours of rain sometimes mixed with hail-stones sleet
or as full-on snow in quite often icy-cold winds as late as May 29th for
me personally, this meeting 2 weeks earlier before A-E’s departure for home and
then a second sunnier walking holiday in northern Spain with a girlfriend on a
section of the Camino de Santiago, one day texting 32 degrees C, lower 90s F,
and 32 km (about 20 miles) of walking: leaving me to climb some of Scotland’s
more isolated remaining 3000 footers (914,4 metres) the renown Munro hills…
So it was by each of us staying a second night in
the other’s company and helping fill in odd details about the nearby terrain
they had ahead of them that little by little we each got to know one another in
a nice way despite quite enormous gaps in ages…
Then to one’s surprise almost 2 weeks later
visiting another hostel in another part of Scotland and being greeted by
this same young lady KG by which time I had difficulties placing her until she
was joined by the same young man G, she having the advantage of recognising me
because of my knee-length climbing stockings, hahaha. Then we were able to
recount some of what had happened in the interim when now we shared a much
busier hostel with many more people staying there including other north
Americans either from the US or Canada, and through odd snatches I learned that
KG’s 2 Christian names came from 2 very famous Hollywood actresses, and that
until quite recently she had been living in Italy and so we were able to
discuss and contrast the life styles of two very different countries each had
visited comparing the one European to her own native Californian, a difference
perhaps I appreciated a bit better than most as during my working life I had
managed to get round a half of the United States of America including
St Francisco if not her own particular nearby town…
Finally then Katha as G liked to style her became
one of my several new friends on F-b during this trip and to stay with the pun
of my title we’ll see just how well or otherwise we get to grow older together,
hahaha. A very lively young lady who sparkled not only in my old eyes but
in those of her contemporaries be they local or foreign... Have a good day
everyone as I hope you too get to grow old with grace, but maybe preferably with
a little "g"?
Today's pics: 1) White-tailed Sea Eagle on island of S. Uist; 2) A-E as she leaves the summit of Meall Chuaich; 3) View over Loch Maree from summit area of Slioch; and descending from Black Cuillin Ridge below Sgurr Dearg draped in mist with icy winds but otherwise a rare rain-free day 15 6 3...
2025 5 28 Having grown old with Grace no longer the play on words of the blog I wrote of the action of this blog which almost to the same time of year 10 years ago was for me a timely reminder of what my life was about then compared to what it is today: fortunately here I sit with the same wife who recalled my talking about KG and her husband when in point of fact it was her boyfriend I pointed out, and probably no-one more serious than a simple friend, who 10 yrs on from her friendship on F-B I aware of the fact she has just given birth to her first child: This blog mostly untouched save for its title my all time most popular blog with 64 hits...
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