on the road again

Thinking about my last entry...Why roads? The visual, of course, lines which draw the eye and entice it to follow. An abrupt linear counterpoint to the chaos that is landscape. The draw is not unlike, I suppose, that which attracts people to travel the road itself. A journey, the mystery of where it may lead, of what may lie round the next bend.

just out of Feolin Ferry, Jura

a Skye Road

the road to Bunnahabhain, Islay

Kildalton, Islay

Vatersay, one of the Outer Hebridean islands of Scotland

along Loch Harport, Skye

The last is a photo from the east coast of Harris, another of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. A landscape with a peculiarly attractive desolation. Apparently it was a proxy for the planet Jupiter in Kubrick's film "2001: a Space Odyssey". Maybe that's why I find Harris so appealing - the film is one of my alltime favourites. I remember seeing it with my dad when it was first released, one of the first wide screen epic films. And here I find myself travelling with my father again, on a journey through the same landscape. Full circle, another line.

on the road

In Canada, at least, motorcyclists acknowledge each other with a wave as they speed past in opposite directions. The left hand drifts out as if to grasp the wind, to grasp the unspoken greeting flung from a complete stranger on the road.

A similar thing happens on the Scottish island of Islay, only it's the car drivers who greet each other. A small wave or a lift of the fingers from the steering wheel an automotive tip of the hat. It comes as a bit of a surprise to the uninitiated, but soon feels natural, feels right, feels human. The road becomes a conduit of people, with their own private lives and histories and secrets, instead of just metal tonnage hurtling along a stretch of hard asphalt. Hurtling still happens, but the momentary eye contact with the driver on the other side of the road is somehow comforting.

A few photos for you from my trip to Scotland this September.

The high road on Islay, between Port Ellen and Bridgend. A very fun single track road, of which there are many in Scotland.

The much photographed gate at the top of Shore Street in Portnahaven, Islay. Another example of the iconic

The not so much photographed bottom of Shore Street in Portnahaven, Islay 

Looking east along the road called The String, just above Brodick on Arran