A Pink Sunset – Glencoe

Scotland Journal day 2 (Travel Diary Day 272)

As night fell in the Highlands, Rachel and I joined the other hotel residents in enjoying the Country music of Derek, our entertainer for the evening. With the average age of the audience, and Derek, being around the 80 years mark, we imagined the atmosphere to be a relaxed one. We should have known better – this is Scotland, after all.

It seemed like the passionate game of bingo that went beforehand really got the crowd pumped up for an evening of rowdiness.

Since most of the residents struggle to stand unaided, especially after a few pints, dancing was restricted to arm waving and clapping. Many tried their hand at singing along.

As midnight neared, Rachel went to bed but I headed for the lake to shoot some stars. It was pitch black. After 5 minutes my torch died. I couldn’t make out a thing. My imagination went into hyperdrive.

I heard a noise behind me and decided it was definitely a ghost. A splash in the water awoke in me a fear of fish ghosts, while movement on the pebbles to my left made me wonder how many minutes I had left on this earth.

The shoot was a washout. The stars weren’t as visible as I’d hoped. I ran home.

This morning we were preparing for a hike in Glen Etive. The TV in the hotel was on. Jeremy Kyle, the UK equivalent of the Jerry Springer Show was on. I don’t watch much TV, and make a habit of staying away from such programs. On this occasion, one gentlemen was accusing his best friend of stealing a couple of mobile phones from him. The truth would be revealed via a lie detector test.

I was waiting for Rachel to pack her bag as the drama was unfolding. Before I knew it she was ready to go, before the lie detector results had been announced. I was beside myself. I needed to know the results. Did he steal the phones? Was their friendship ruined forever?

Rachel said ‘come on’. I found myself shouting at the TV – ‘Show us the bloomin’ results, Kyle!’.

Rachel let me wait to see what happened.

He hadn’t stolen the phones. Their friendship was over either way. I will never watch this show again.

This is our list night in the highlands. Hopefully we’ll have an equally dynamic act on this evening in our hotel.

Today’s Photo – The pink sunset

This was shot at sunset somewhere in Glencoe.

The image was created using my digital blending method using luminosity masks. See below for the print screens of the workflow.