Photos of Callanish Stones

Here are a few photos of the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, for your enjoyment. More to follow.

Peaceful Iona

We are in our third day on Iona, a quiet and peaceful place just off the coast of Scotland. This morning we took a trip out to Staffa, a monumental island dominated by huge basalt columns, and the home of Fingal's Cave, the inspiration for Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave (Hebrides Overture). The cave, which you can see on the photo of the island (the black hole on the right) has the most amazing acoustical properties. Our group sang and chanted in the space the the energy of the cave became totally alive and vibratory. As I was looking across to the columns on the opposite side, there were waves of energy that looked like the waves you sometimes see on hot Kansas highways in summer.

Fingal's Cave looks straight out at the island of Iona and some believe that the energy emanating from the cave is felt on Iona, which may account for the clear and peaceful energy we feel here.

Edinburgh

Well, we are here in Scotland, spending four days in Edinburgh seeing the city and awaiting the beginning of our tour with Mara Freeman and her husband, David. Edinburgh is not our favorite city so far, but we are impressed with how many Scots have made important contributions to medicine, literature, the arts, and other sciences. It is a truly impressive record of achievement and just naming some names will give you a picture: Arthur Conan Doyle, James Clerk Maxwell (as in the Maxwell equation), Robert Liston (first to use a general anesthetic), Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, to name a few. Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was his College of Medicine professor, Dr. Joseph Bell. Of course, on the negative side there was a man named Botch who designed a bridge that failed miserably, adding to the English language the term 'a botched project.' Here are a few photos.

Tree Trivia

One of my regular readers (Hi Darlene!) asked me several weeks ago about the poor denuded trees in front of our apartment (you can look back and see them in the May 31st post). I've periodically taken a photo to show how they grow out each summer. This is the way they appear today. Elyn thinks the severe cutting that these trees endure each year is cruel. But, as you can see, they bravely put forth a profuse growth that provides very concentrated shade for the sidewalk cafés below.

So there is your tree trivia for the day. Tomorrow it is off to Scotland, returning on July 20. We will have a computer with us and I'll try to post from time to time, but there may be significant gaps between posts for awhile. We will have wonderful photos to share when we return.