Today I did the hikes I had wanted to do yesterday: in particular to St. Columba’s Bay, over towards the quarry and then back around and up to Port Ban. Incredible, all of it! I will try to upload a video from the Bay for you below… again, with the pictures issue that I’m having, I’m not positive I can make that work, but I will try. Today’s hike was a bit over eight miles. Yesterday I walked ten miles, though the obvious difference was the terrain. Yesterday was gentle hills on paved or gravel roads, today was hills, rocky terrain, on paths that were many times barely discernible. The other, more profound difference was how the hike to St. Columba’s Bay felt, and seeing/touching the water of the bay in particular. Both days I walked alone. While David is here on Iona with me, he is not a hiker. Additionally, his work has required that he has to still manage to get in 40 hours of work during the three weeks he will be with me in Europe, so he is taking the unscheduled, quiet days on Iona to try to get some of those hours in. I was actually looking forward to having the quiet, meditative and reflective as well as prayerful time to walk by myself. None the less, the solitary walk to the North of Iona yesterday was stressful for me: or it produced anxiety for me. I didn’t see anyone, and I felt nervous about that. While Iona is pretty safe, I carry with me the reality from home that 50% of women in the United States will be assaulted during their life times, many of those more than once. Walking by oneself as a female is generally not considered wise or safe. If someone had approached me, there would be no one else around to call to for help. I couldn’t shake it. I kept trying to just breathe and be in the present, but was unable to do so.
On today’s hike I also saw no one until I was almost all the way back from St. Columba’s Bay. But it felt different. There was no anxiety. There was instead a calm but strong sense of being where I needed to be in the moment. I was searching for the trail much of the time, as well as trying to hold my phone with its trail app to make sure I was at least in the right vicinity while at the same time using my poles in the hope that the extra support would prevent my knee acting up. The wind today was still quite strong, and at one point the clouds let loose and I ended up quite soaked. And yet, despite all this, I kept being astounded by the beauty at every turn, the wildlife and the joys of hearing the sheep and birds talk to one another and occasionally even to me. It was incredible. Not a “destination” but really the point of being here: the hard journey which was rewarded at every turn by something beautiful and unexpected.
As I stood on the beach I felt tears pouring down my face in awe and wonder at what was before me, and found myself repeating, almost unconsciously the mantra “Thank you, God” over and over and over. The video I attach will not do it justice, and yet, it’s all I can do to try to share with you this little piece of heaven that was the gift of the day for me.
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