MONDAY, APRIL 29
Moving into someone else’s house, being entrusted with the care of their beloved dog, and hovering in their space, neither as guest nor employee, in a kind of grey borderland, for the amount of time they feel it takes to acquaint us with their lives, is quite destabilizing. Another day when we often found ourselves standing in Matt’s and Lucy’s kitchen not knowing what to do, or sitting on a couch huddled together like two dumb lumps.
We offered to take Duffy for a walk, and did, but she didn’t get far before turning around. That was embarrassing for us and not so reassuring for Matt and Lucy. After another half day…learning their routines so we could imitate them for Duffy’s sake, they put Eliot in his car seat and off they went.
WISTFUL DUFFY…
Duffy stared sadly out the bedroom window, her tail between her legs, sitting up straight, slightly afraid of us, and not at all interested in making friends…yet. The house was quiet with the disappearance of Eliot, who left dressed up as Owlette, with a dishtowel thrown over his shoulders and clipped in front to create a most-stylish cape.
The house seemed to appear before us now that it was empty of the family. We noticed the light yellow and robin blue colors in the kitchen; the spring green in the bathroom; the ashy green in the living room. The furniture is an odd and wonderful collection of antiques and modern pieces. The couches are faded purple in the kitchen, soft green, burnt orange and deep purple in the living room. Red oak frames all the many high, large windows.
The backyard with it’s paved porch area looks like a restaurant. The flower, herb and vegetable beds on the yard’s periphery, and the many details in the house– paintings, stacks of books, curtains, framed prints, family photos, and even the toys belie a sophisticated humor and a sort of intelligence that comes from education and world travel.
TIME TO RELAX
We hadn’t unpacked for days. The last time we really looked in our suitcases was when we jammed whatever into the extra suitcase at the airport. We had no idea what was where. We’d worn the same clothes since we left London.
OUR FIRST DUFFY WALK!
Duffy is a leadless dog…unnerving when you don’t know if the dog will listen to you, or if she even likes you.
We walked through Braidburn Valley Park to get to Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill. A dirt path runs along a stream in Blackford Hill. Wildflowers dot the steep, rocky hills. Stretches of grass pass between the forest and blooming trees. A bridge leads to the former home of a Nobel Prize winning Physicist (It looked like a mini-castle). The trail leads up a steep incline to a plateau of wild grass, hidden paths, hills covered with wild Gorse and a view all the way to downtown Edinburgh. The landscape closes in then opens up, is both gentle and rugged, contained and wide.
On our return through Braidburn Valley Park, tired and content, we laid down in the freshly mowed lawn on the expansive hill. Duffy ran circles around us. She is a great walking partner, and it felt nice to be with a dog again.
I have an innate attachment to Scotland that may well be genetic. My father’s father was a Scotsman. Everything about it feels like home — the cool, fresh air, the color of the homes, soft yellow stones turned grey, the chunky, solid architectural style, the black slate roofs, a landscape and sensibility of wildness and strength.
