Readers of my Editor’s Diary know how much I enjoy walking. And, over the last year, I have made many discoveries whilst exploring at home and further afield.
Everything from new footpaths to unexpected views, memorials to important people and historical tales told on plaques, in fact!
But one of my favourite recent discoveries was made just three miles from home.
Out walking through the fields surrounding a neighbouring village, I passed under a railway bridge. This one, to be precise!
Photograph by Angela Gilchrist.
I was so busy admiring the perfectly framed view that I almost missed the tiny treasure inside.
Propped against the right-hand wall was an exquisitely painted piece of slate. It was decorated with flowers and a rainbow. And its simple yet powerful message was one of hope.
Hold on . . . better days are coming
It was so beautiful and inspiring that I had to share it.
The past 18 months have been so hard for us all. And even though restrictions are easing, life is very far from being back to normal.
Yet someone had taken the time to create this lovely little work of art and leave it to comfort and cheer passing strangers. What a kind-hearted and generous gesture.
From the sublime to the ridiculous . . .
I started this Diary post by talking about some of the things I’ve found while out walking.
One of the most unexpected was on a deserted South Uist beach during my holiday last month. There, in a tangle of seaweed washed up on the shore, was . . . a pineapple!
Photograph by Angela Gilchrist.
How did it get there? And where had it come from? I will never know.
I wonder what I’m going to stumble across next!
For more from Angela’s Editor’s Diary, click the tag below.
Angela Gilchrist I am the former Editor-in-Chief of “The People’s Friend” magazine. My passions include cats, Highland ponies, good books, vegetarian food and long walks in the Scottish countryside. My favourite place to get away from it all is the magical Isle of Skye.
