On from Inverbervie--

I spent about two weeks exploring Inverbervie, Stonehaven and Aberdeen, Scotland while I stayed with my friend John. The folks on the northeast side of Scotland seem to spend most of their time in the pub and not pay too much attention to the world around them. (Actually, most of Scotland seemed this way to me.) Of course, the Scottish economy is pretty grim. Despite this, they still haven't lost their sense of humor or fun. Most of the Scots that I met were low-income, unemployed or retired and living in council houses. The oil industry that used to employ most of the Scots from this area is dying rapidly and many are out of work.

It was a very different way to live for me. Americans are so driven to achieve. It is so refreshing to be in a place where you can just sit in the pub with some friends and have a good laugh. Unfortunately, the driven American finally surfaced and I realized that I was wasting away my precious vacation time sitting in the pub with John and his buddies. So--off I went toward the highlands.

There was another lad from Glasgow that I had been exchanging emails with for months. This was Mark. Mark had sent me flowers and indicated quite an interest in me. In a moment of redheaded craziness, I emailed him and said, "Well, if you want to meet me so badly, meet me tomorrow at the Inverness train station at 4:00 PM. I will be arriving from Aberdeen." Mark says it was quite a flurry of activity, but he managed to be packed and ready to meet me with a rose in his hand and wearing his best suit when I climbed down off the steps from the train. How he knew exactly where to be and at which pair of steps off the train, I will never completely understand. The rest, they say, is history. It took a couple years, but I finally married this wonderful, wacky Scotsman. Unfortunately, it didn't last and we divorced a year later, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

Mark and I spent a couple days exploring Inverness and getting to know one another. It was magickal. Every moment that I ever spent with him IN Scotland was magickal. It seemed it was when we were outside of Scotland, that things ever became less than magick for us.