Yesterday I arrived at the Newbold House on St.Leonards road, just outside of the small village Forres. And too be honest, I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. Honestly I felt like I checked into a middle-age hippie counseling center. Obviously my mid-western cynicsm glasses were on, but I dug in and it turned out alright. I helped cook dinner, a venison pie and sautéed kelp - which was divine - and local and organic. Had good conversations meeting the community and with hot tea and a hot shower I slept like a rock.
This morning was splendid. I worked all morning in the sunshine in the garden, such a great feeling. This garden here is quite large, a third of an acre I would say. Pulling weeds from the rhubarb and corn and cutting different leaves for our lunch salad. I remember my mom gardening all my years while living at home, when I was little we had a veggie garden and then as I grew my mom created beautiful flower gardens all around our home; I loved having them there, I just never did the work, nor did I want too, although the only thing mom ever wanted help with was the watering. (pretty sure her gardening time was so she could get away from us kids, not for us to join in, haha)
But now as I garden, as I had my knee high rubber boots on, with gardening gloves and a beanie warming my head, as the sun shone on me and the brisk air reddened my cheeks - I loved every second of it. Having my hands in the soil and working hard, being able to see the work when it was completed was so satisfactory.
The community here is one in it's own, a mixed blend of different individuals, I feel as if I'm living life from some novel that was once written. There is only 12 of us here, some live here full time, some are here for a season, others are just stopping through for a short while. I am here for the shortest time by far, only 4 days - while everyone else is here for weeks, months or years even.
You have the very spiritual one, the one who wants to make an astrology chart and talks as if she is pyscho-analyzing everything (she happens to be from San Francisco) and you have the yoga teacher from Italy who doesn't know much English, the health guru from Portugal, the intense-feisty woman from Amsterdam, the 21 year old frenchie who is trying to find herself, an italian man who is dating the local marine biologist, and the local woman who is an artist running a bed&breakfast with her life-partner and one of the main people here happens to be a hysterical, very opinionated Irish woman. Then you have Shawn, a local scot who has traveled the whole world and doesn't seem like he'd end up at a place like this, due to his manliness and 'go-get-em' attitude but he loves the simple life and nature and is great for conversation & then Seth an American who fell in love with a french woman and Scottish yachts but ended up here due to being abandoned by both his love and economic wealth. And finally my favorite, is Janet, a woman who is stunningly beautiful with her sun-kissed face and wrinkles she's spent decades traveling the world, she's a wind-surfer who was raised as an army brat but spent half her life as a gypsy. All of the people in this community are really beautiful individuals, that make my smile - all of them still searching for something. They all just happen to be searching inside themselves, or searching nature and traditions; not realizing they haven't found what will fulfill them for eternity.
It's lovely being here, away from it all. A good place to spend a couple days. And now I must go, I'm full from my turnip burger lunch and it's now time for me to go explore this Scottish land; there are forests, beaches, villages, castles and lochs that are calling me.
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