Pod Life is Good
It was a treat to lay in bed and watch the sunrise. Because it’s later in the year the sun was coming up at a reasonable hour for this pod-person. 7:38AM perfect timing. The top row of photos shows my first morning. The rosy pinks and deep oranges of the first blush looked more like a sunset than a sunrise. I had the time to watch it all shine. The photos are taken about 15 minutes apart. You can also see the fire pit and chairs in front of the pod. I never did have a fire, maybe next visit.
The little red roof. This is a place you really want to know. It’s the home of Sandra and In Balance Iona. Thursday morning at a reasonable hour (can you tell I like a lie in) I booked myself a 90 minute massage. I had gone to Sandra every week last season to help keep my body strong enough to do the kitchen work. This go round it was just to celebrate being back on Iona. She’s very good. I highly recommend, if you ever visit.
Pod life also lends itself to long quiet hours for reading. Craft Land by James Fox was a very popular book right now. I picked it up at Waterstones while I was in Oban. (They are like Barnes and Nobel.) I love to browse there. It’s grand to find titles I would not find in the States. And it let’s me read local stories while I’m in the locale! Duh! The first chapter of Craft Land talks about dry stone walling, and that was the very thing I had to draw for the L of the Iona Abecedarim. The Last Witch of Scotland by Philip Paris is the fictional novel based on the true story of the last woman who was burned for being a witch in 1727. The law in Scotland made it illegal to practice witchcraft and between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries thousands were burned for the offense. Most were women and most died with no more than a rumor to convict them. (Every country has it’s dark side.) I thought it would be a difficult read but it was masterful. I read the story in two days.
The tea break is such a civilized thing to do. I was happy to entertain a visitor in my pod for tea an a catch up. I remember thinking on the first day when I scheduled a tea date and a walk that I shouldn’t have done that. After all I was here on “personal retreat.” Oh silly pilgrim. You are here to soak up whatever you are shown and it can happen whenever the Spirit moves. I purposely did not have an agenda for my time and so my days did unfold with walks during sunny hours and drawing and reading during rainy hours. I didn’t make it to Columba’s Bay but just as many pretty rocks and whipping wind are on the much closer Machair. Time stretches out and creating the day as it comes meant I did everything I wanted and needed to do. So when it was time to leave nothing was left undone and while I would have loved to stay another week I was not sad to board the ferry. I know I’ll return.