Day 97 of the End to End was from Invermoriston to the Pottery at Bunloit.
It was a hot day, often humid and there was quite a lot of steep uphill climbs to contend with.
After the first set of zigzags the Great
Glen Way split between the Upper and Lower routes. Bob came with me and we took the lower route to the Stone Cave. This ideal spot for hermits holds great affection for us. Bob has been here 3 times, Hannah twice and now me once.
Bob turned back to Invermoriston at this point and I went onto Altsigh. Some more zigzags after that and I met Bob again coming towards me. We had a picnic on a bench looking out over Loch Ness.
The day was full of wonderful views and super wildlife. Butterflies tumbled over and over as the wind tugged me back and forth on the path that like a brown snake slithered up the hill between the whispering trees.
It was definitely the day for speckled wood butterflies: I saw at least 60. I also saw 10 large dragonflies and 4 pearl bordered fritillary. Another interesting sight was several large wood ant nests with very busy occupants.
The woodland was also rich in large fungi especially an orange variety identified for me as Orange Birch Bolete by @wildindevon. It seems you can eat these but we didn’t.
We were soon on our way out of the woods to the car park at Bunloit, not far from the Pottery and tearoom. There, an excellent whisky fruit cake restored us.
From Jeremiah 18
God said “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house.
A lot of images from the Bible are taken from daily life. In this one Jeremiah sees the Potter reshape the wonky clay and it reminds him that God can reshape us, but only if we are willing.
A walk is full of promising images: fungi spring up everywhere and ants scurry about. It depends on how we read the world around us and our relationship with it.
In your hands Creative Potter, reshape us and fit us for your world to thrive alongside the fungi and the ants.
God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 23.07.2019
Day 97 of the End to End, Invermoriston to Bunloit.