She burst into tears suddenly, fleeing out the door onto the moor, her blond hair wildly blowing in the wind. Her egress was noted by the ominous figure watching from the window above. He moved suddenly, motivated by concern: what if the cats got out? He pursued the retreating figure, his dark form standing out starkly against the fading light.

She fled, her heart torn in two – the man following her was the cause and cure of her pain. She longed both to embrace him and to slap him, the beginning and ending of every bitter thought.

“Waaaaaaaa!” she cried suddenly as she tripped and fell into the fell foul fen. As she struggled to free herself, he appeared, silhouetted against the failing sun. He reached down to her, throwing his arms about her, and lifted….and dropped her a moment later as his back went out.

Meredith has been delighted to see little bits of moor over the last few days, since so much English literature takes place on moors. Despite my protests that nothing good ever happens on a moor in a book, she still said she was able to see herself as a heroine in one of the works she teaches since she could now visualize the moor. As we left the Glencoe area, we drove through amazing mountainous territory, emerging onto a huge moor on the other side. Thus was born the above narrative as I tried to work out what our novel would look like.

We drove on for an hour and forty minutes, arriving on the southern tip of Loch Lomond in the town of Balloch. Why Balloch? First and foremost, they had a room at a good B and B in town. But I also wanted to be close to Glasgow (thirty minutes away) so the car return tomorrow could be easier, and I wanted to see Loch Lomond because of the song that mentions it (the high-road/low-road one). Those seemed good enough reasons to me, despite the fact that Mer’s guidebook said there was nothing much to see here.

Ha! We saw a lot of the town! Multiple times! Because the map I was given was stylized without street names. And house numbers are rare in town – most houses are named instead. So it took several tries and a long, roundabout way to make it to our first stop, the Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre. To be honest, I thought we might get to see hawks and falcons in flight, but not in this case. There were about thirty birds of prey, but they were all tethered to the ground by a long lead on the leg. They seemed fine with that, and it allowed us to see them up close, which was really cool. They had many different types of owls, which was very cool; owls are fun to watch. They also had some hawks, and falcons, and buzzards (not vultures!), and one gorgeous golden eagle. She was beautiful. We got to listen to the owner/trainer chat about the birds some, and it was clear he loved the birds.

By then, we were hungry, so we went looking for a cafe we had been told was near the base of the hill that held the castle. Once again, the map did not come to our aid. So, after wandering for thirty minutes, we gave up and went into a regular restaurant for a very late lunch. After a quick trip back to the B and B to check on some things, we decided to go find the castle itself, which is in the middle of a huge and well-kept park. The castle is small, but tidy, and it overlooks the loch and has extensive grounds, and great benches for sitting. So, while we were sitting at a castle overlooking Loch Lomond, a bagpiper came along and started playing, just for the heck of it (not busking). How is that for a bonnie Scottish moment?

We strolled back down the hill and along the loch, and checked out the boat cruise schedule. We had just made it for the 7:00 “sunset” cruise, which lasted a little over an hour. It seemed a mellow way to get to see the loch, so off we went. There was occasional narration from some famous historian, but the narration ran more or less along the lines of “people with too much money built huge homes here in the 1700s and 1800s” followed by “people with too much money now play golf here.” Still, seeing the mountains over the loch was worthwhile, and we outlasted everyone on deck as they fled the cold and wind, so we had he deck to ourselves for the return trip.

We got supper at a restaurant that our hostess had recommended, and it was a cozy spot, except for the MacMontezuma that hit me just after I ordered. Sadly, Mer ate most of her meal alone.

That wraps up my turn of being in charge. Meredith has Saturday in Glasgow, and then we fly home really early on Sunday morning. Lord willing, we will be home by supper on Sunday, but first we have Glasgow to explore.