The photos below are views from Tigh na Mara Guest House.

Island Ghosts

I've been back six weeks and am still processing all that happened to me. Many ghosts were laid to rest. Most powerfully, the Ghosts of Negativity that have haunted me since my last trip there in 2000 with my mother and Tom my second and now ex-husband. I didn't want to be there with the two of them. Mother who was being a pill (putting it mildly) and Tom who I knew I wanted out of my life. Tom is a very sweet Englishman whom I worked with in the Isle of Mull Hotel. He was the barman. We had a bit of a fling my second summer there. Later that year he came over to the states for a visit and stayed. We were married on New Year's Eve 1996. I married him for a lot of reasons, none of them healthy ones. The bottom line was that his drinking was a deal breaker. Lesson learned. No more alcoholics. Done.

My trip this time, nine years later, was so positive that all of my original wonderful feelings about Scotland re-surfaced. I spent the first two days in Oban, my old stomping grounds. Thoroughly enjoying exploring what was still there and what was new. All my stress was receding and Scotland was working its magic. On my third morning in Oban I caught the 8:00 a.m. ferry for the three hour journey to the Isle of Coll. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't good, so it wasn't a scenic trip. However, I was able to see the Lismore Lighthouse and Duart Castle. We sailed north and west past Tobermory and out into the open ocean. When the ferry landed at Coll, it was pouring down rain. Fortunately, an island taxi van was picking people up from the ferry. I hitched a ride and was told they were going on an island tour. Perfect. I went along and had a terrific tour of Coll. My B&B, the Tigh na Mara, was excellent. Located close to the village of Arinagour I was able to walk to the Isle of Coll Hotel for excellent evening meals. While there I had one whole glorious day all to myself in the lounge of the B&B and spent the whole day writing and looking out at the amazing sea view and watching the spring lambs frolic. The hostess of Tigh na Mara was a lovely lady originally from Lancashire. She is very welcoming and warm. James, her assistant and handyman, and Englishman from Middlesborough was very entertaining. So after three luxurious days on Coll, it was time to return to Oban and get another ferry to the Isle of Mull. I had a little time in Oban where it was raining like it can only rain in Scotland. I was able to run the errands I needed to run and have a nice lunch before getting on the ferry. That trip to Craignure on the Isle of Mull is like going home. It's a fifty minute trip. Still raining. I caught the bus for Fionnphort and it was full. It's still pouring down rain and it was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It's a one lane road with lay bys, which means you have places to pull over for oncoming traffic or sheep. The driver would speed up to the lay by and them slam the breaks on. We were bouncing all over the place. At last, we arrived in Fionnphort and I may my wet way to the Seaview B & B. Just a very short walk. I would spend the night there and then catch the ferry to Iona which I could see in the murky distance through the rain. The Seaview' propietor, John, gave me a very warm welcome and showed me to my cozy room. I had an early night and slept with gale force winds singing in the background. Tomorrow if the ferry was able to run, I would take the 10 minute sail to Iona and begin the adventure of the writing retreat.

Tobermory is the colorful waterfront town below.

It is the eve of my return to Scotland. I am looking forward and am nostalgic at the same time. I've been thinking a lot about my first summer on Mull and my conversation with Mary Taylor. We saw kindred spirits in each other and she saw something in my that she thought her brother Robert would see also. Robert came in to the bar at the hotel one night while I was working. Part of my duties entailed helping behind the bar which was next to reception. Robert ordered a pint of Guinness which requires some skill to pull from the tap because it's so foamy. I remember he commented that I had the hang of it, but we were so busy that was about all I remembered except that he was very handsome. Oh,there is so much more about Robert, but that will have to wait.

The summer went by so quickly. I made some wonderful friends. One evening I made plans to meet some of them at the Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee) Place after I finished at 11:00. There was a band playing that we all liked. So I walked down to the village in the twilight of a beautiful evening. It never gets really dark in the summer. I walked in to the pub and all of my friends shouted my name and greeted me with hugs and ordered my usual pint of lager. It was such a wonderful experience to be in this remote village and be part of the life there. I had achieved what I wanted to achieve.

And now my journey begins again. I will be in Oban the first three days, staying in the Caledonian Hotel on the waterfront. I plan to walk, write, read and breathe in that wonderful sea air whose scent I can conjure up even here in landlocked Indiana.
Next I will take the Calmac ferry for a three hour trip to the Isle of Coll, an island I haven't visited before. I am staying in an ocean facing guest house. (I've already posted a picture of that view on my blog. It looks like a wonderful place to get some writing done, walk the beach and maybe just stare at the ocean. After three days there, I will travel on the ferry back to Oban, catch another ferry across to my beloved Mull, docking at Craignure where I used to live. From there I'll take a bus for an amazing ride across the island to the little village of Fionnphort (pronounced Finnafort). I've been to Fionnphort many times, but only long enough to catch the ferry. I will spend the night at the Seaview Guest House and then spend a little time exploring the village. Perhaps check out the Columba Centre or take a whale watching trip. In the late afternoon I'll take the 10 minute ferry ride to the Isle of Iona and meet up with the writing group for the dinner that initiates the beginning of the retreat. The retreat lasts five days. Five luxurious days devoted to writing and exploring mystical Iona. When the retreat is over I'll travel back across Mull to the town of Tobermory, the capitol of Mull. Where I'll stay with Joan and Angus Milne and meet their son, Angus James, for the first time. Joan is the wonderful lady who was managing the Isle of Mull Hotel and hired me to work there. Angus and his father Jimmy entertained in the hotel lounge singing and playing the guitar and accordian. I am so looking forward to seeing them again. I'll be with them for two days and then it will be time to return to Bloomington. And though I know it sounds like I've got a lot packed in this trip, even as I write it all out, I know it will go way too fast. And I will be thinking about how soon I can get back to Scotland.