Hi there,
Oh, gosh, the daggone 'midgies' are a gnat like insect that swarms in late August
and early September. They are like what we call "no
see 'ems" until that sting you. No one yet has come up with an effective insect
repellent for these nasty critters. Anyone who does
will surely make a FORTUNE!!
This year they were particularly abundant as it was a very damp Spring in Scotland and one
dry summer. The are most prevalent in the
moors and as we had to pass through Grannoch Moor to get to Fort William we ran into slews
of the dreaded "midgies" when we got out of
the car for a "pit stop" at this very old...very quaint hotel in the middle of
no where on the way. The hotel was tiny, the furniture
in the so called lobby was old and worn, kinda seedy over all, but, boy, was that toilet a
welcome sight..and the water pressure was
fantastic! The toilet paper was reasonably soft to the touch, not the wax paper type I
had come to expect from a previous trip to Paris
in the '60s. I had come armed with LOTS of Kleenex that I found I didn't need at
all.
So much for now.
Warm regards,
Marlene
P. S. Want to be my agent? I'm a rank amateur at this stuff. But I've got a book
in the works, a very serious one.
P.P.S. Alex Hood can be reached at ScotHigh(a)aol.com. He's quite a funny man, I can
tell you. We laughed a lot together this last trip.
As we ran into the vestabule..also very tiny..Then we met up with a handwritten sign that
said "Close the door against the midgies." Got
no argument from me about that one. We faced another door just in front of us which we
promptly opened and slammed shut ...just in
case. Alex Hood, our Travel Agent in Scotland told us that that hotel has been there from
time immemorial. Alex in in his 40's and
remembers it since he was a boy
Esopoet(a)aol.com wrote:
Hi! I only now got to read your (Marlene Cameron) very
interestingly
informative and most engaging e-mail of 9/29/99 re your trip to Scotland
and I must say I do hope you will tell me you are a professional writer (or
at least that you are aiming in that direction! For you truly are one gifted
lady! I was most disappointed that it so soon ended! Your descriptive
scenes just wrapped themselves around me and pulled me in to share the
experience and also the people! You go, Girl! -- I hope you keep a
journal/diary and are going to submit your writings to a publisher -- that
is, if you haven't done so as yet! I will eagerly look forward to reading
your every page/book/books! Thank you for so generously and so engagingly
sharing all you have! I also look forward to reading more from you on the
rootsweb! -- You have inspired me to consider taking a trip not only to
lovely Scotland but hopefully to Mrs. Hamill's B&B! And I am sure she and
Fort William, and your Tour Guide?Scottish Highland Entertainments -- if not
all of Scotland! :-) -- will very soon be finding themselves much busier!
-- after many have read your fantastic descriptives and praises of all!
As an avid reader (also a poet/writer and sometimes a contributing editor)
I would wager on it! And were I a publisher -- especially of a travel
magazine [ANY PUBLISHERS READING THIS?!] -- I'd call you with an offer or at
least would like to SEE MORE of your writing!
Just one more thing -- if I may ask, what exactly are "midgies" -- in the
context you refer to them? I'm in the USA! ;-) !! and so... want to
surmise that maybe you meant Leprauchans?)
Sincerely,
Esopoet(a)aol.com
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