With Charles and Serena in Lossiemouth; Finally a Chance to Exhale

We arrived in Lossiemouth, Scotland last night after an unnecessarily long drive north in Scotland. We had arrangements to stay with our former Spokane friends Charles and Serena Lasol and their daughter River in their home. That sounded great, but Serena had a different plan. She had received an offer from their neighbors Louise and Ethan to have us stay free of charge in their empty house, directly across the street from Charles and Serena – free of charge! Last night Serena perfectly prepared a delicious dinner of roasted potatoes, roasted veggies and baked salmon. We drank wine, ate and talked for hours. This was the first time since we left Spokane that I have felt totally at ease, what a relief. A couple pictures of their home.

So here we are staying in a beautiful light filled home and paying nothing. Nice surprise. we slept wonderfully last night. Awakened this morning to another clear blue-sky day even warmer than the last. People in Scotland are ecstatic. The four of us walked through town and down to the beach where we had coffees, teas and hot chocolate. Early morning and people were already out in shorts without coats taking advantage of a rare spring day of warmth. After the cafe we wandered through town peeking into Charles’ favorite haunts meeting friends, neighbors and shop keepers. Two pictures of the house where we are staying, one of the light filled kitchen and dining room and the second has our rental car.

After a lunch of Serena’s homemade carrot soup and super dense sourdough bread we visited Serena’s mom and walked from the lighthouse at the West beach 3+ miles back to their home where we had another delicious meal, jambalaya this time. Anyone who reads these posts knows I am possibly a little obsessed with murals. So, I am posting pics of the only mural in Lossie as well as pics of our walk along the beach.  Include are the lighthouse, WWII defense turrets, and cliff side caves.

After dinner we spent 21/2 hours at the home of an ex-former Scottish armed forces Intelligence officer and his wife who came from war torn Yugoslavia over 30 years ago. We had a wide-ranging discussion about the state of the world, underlying power brokers, and the inevitability of a global awakening. Ultimately, we believe massive change for the better is coming to this world, how soon is indeterminate. In some undetermined way, somehow, against all logic the change will be for the better. I believe the big question is how much suffering has to happen before we reach the tipping point (read Malcom Gladwell) where there is a flashpoint that takes us very quickly from point A to point Z. Reject cynicism, be a hopefulness warrior, join the revolution.