I Love Scotland Because...

As Benedict Ambrose's new socks proclaim, that was The Best Christmas Ever. Invigorating walks in the cold. Telling my goddaughter and her brothers an exciting story about crossing the jungle (written by one of my homeschooled students). Dinner with my dear friend Trish. Brunch with my dear friend Lily. Fetching B.A. from the airport. Christmas shopping in actual malls. The Christmas Eve carol service with which even B.A. could find no fault. The Uber home from Midnight Mass. The incomparable Christmas Day in which all the living family was together for the first time. St. Stephen's Day lunch with Lily and her family. A sojourn in the Eastern Townships including my brother's in-laws, fireworks, Clydesdales pulling a cartload of happy children, Sunday Mass in a monastery....

No wonder I've returned to Scotland with mixed feelings. For many years the beauty of the Historical House took the sting out of annual (February or March) returns from visits to Canada. Last year the almost entirely magnolia-walled new flat plunged me into a depression. I think about a young American friend who married a Scot and lasted--what? Six years?--in Edinburgh before her husband found a job in the US. 

So now, having had a four-hour snooze following our red-eye flight back to Scotland, I am sitting in my favourite room--painted dark crimson last summer--and thinking about what I love about Scotland besides B.A. and the architecture. 

I always think about the architecture. The Georgian streets of Edinburgh's New Town are incredibly soothing. The views of Edinburgh's gated gardens from the New Town flats are lovely, too, although dependent on being invited to meals by the inhabitants of the New Town flats. 

Of course there is the local TLM community, without which I would simply die of loneliness. 

There are splendid croissants, but I am not going to eat croissants this year, so never mind. On the other hand, it is nice to know they are there. 

Excellent clothing. Too few men and women in Edinburgh streets wear the really lovely stylish quality clothing in the shops, but it's good to know that the clothes are there, too.

The proximity of the countryside. Splendid country walks are only a bus or train ride away. 

Cheap and easy travel to the Rest of Europe. 

Chatty, friendly Scots telling me they'd emigrate to Canada if they could.

The nearby river with its swans, geese, ducks and, in the spring, cygnets, goslings and ducklings.  

My favourite hipster cafe with its layers of memories. 

Picking black currants for creme de cassis or czarna porzaczka. 

 

Good lending libraries. 

Snow drops in February. Wild Garlic in March. Bluebells in April. Wood anemones in April and May.