Now we are back in lockdown again. It was announced just before Christmas, so our plans for a couple of days in Oban were cancelled. It’s less scary than the lockdown in spring 2020, almost a year ago now, and the restrictions are a bit lighter. But still the disappointment is acute. I’d thought 2021 would be a new beginning, coming out of the pandemic, perhaps time to travel again…
The weather here in Lochgilphead in the west of Scotland is bitterly cold. We’e never tempted to linger outside for as long as an hour. We just take a quick walk along the sea front, then track a short stretch of the Crinan Canal and back home through the little town.
The Crinan Canal runs nine miles from Ardrishaig on one side of the Kintrye peninsular to the village of Crinan on the other. When it opened in the early 19th century it cut the time to travel from the factories of the Clyde to the inner Hebrides.
Because of the beautiful countryside it passes through, the canal has been dubbed the most beautiful shortcut in the world.
When the world closed down again, I started taking photos on our daily walks to try to track the passing of time and the changing view when every day seemed the same as the one before.
Even when we trace the same route every day there is a small difference in the light, a flock of seagulls settling on the sand exposed by the outgoing tide, ice crystals that formed on damp moss…
But we never linger, just walk speedily home on those short afternoons, and watch the fiery sunsets.
Steppe in Style 
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