PENTLANDS

 AIN'T THAT ENOUGH

New Year's Day 2019

I guess this is where my introduction to the hills began, just beyond and above the city, high points in the Scottish Lowlands.  My parents loved the Pentlands - we would scramble up from Bonaly or Swanston as a family from when I was tiny. Hardly unique, generations of Edinburgh kids have had their first taste of wilder landscapes here.

About half a century on, I had stayed up for the bells, had a few hours kip, then headed  along the M8, intending to pick up my Mum mid morning.  I turned off the bypass as the mist was starting to dissipate, parking at Swanston with just enough time for a quick New Year’s run, first footing the great outdoors. 

Seconds from the car park, I emerged from the woods and jogged past the thatched whitewashed cottages, with roofs parallel with the rising land.  This is a sheltered wee spot, where Stevenson spent his boyhood summers.  Almost immediately I got  the taste of the open landscape beyond. Although there was a sign waymarking a route towards Allermuir, the land, frosty and firm underfoot, gave freedom of choice upwards. It was a mighty steep climb, definitely not easy running, so catching a breath to wish the few other early risers Happy New Year was good for body and soul.

Sometimes you just get lucky, and reaching the tops, the mist had gone, and sun was rising.  The Lammermuirs were lit in white gold and contrasted with Caerketton in stark silhouette.  

Not having a fixed plan, I dropped down south, leaving sight of the city behind, to Glencourse Reservoir where my dad used to fish.  The icy northerly wind brought with it sharp winter light - every stone in the drystane dyke and every tree branch clearly defined.

This is a big familiar landscape that reacquainted me with half-forgotten memories as I moved through it.  Soon I was back on the tops enjoying panoramic views of the city mostly (and sensibly) in slumber. 

Although he loved a traditional Hogmanay with pals and family - black bun, music and tales of outdoor adventure, my dad had little time for the commercialisation of New Year and never liked fireworks at the bells - "All that money going up in smoke when people on earth are starving."

As I get older, I move closer to that viewpoint and wonder if the New Year pyrotechnics matched what I experienced this morning.

As Gerry from Teenage Fanclub sings:

Here is a sunrise. Ain't that enough.

True as a clear sky. Ain't that enough."