Sabbatical day 11: Leaving Glasgow, leaving COVID

I planned to leave Glasgow this morning, day five after testing positive for COVID. I didn’t actually need to test negative to leave, the guidelines saying that after 5 days one isn’t contagious, just mask and be careful. However it definitely helps me feel more comfortable moving about now that I have actually tested negative. I no longer feel like a pariah. 

 I set my alarm for 7am but woke on my own at 5am, hungry. I took twenty minutes to meditate. I have managed on this trip to maintain my practice as well as taking all of my daily vitamins and supplements. Usually both of these go by the way side. I didn’t plan to be in hotel rooms for this entire trip, I was supposed to be at retreat centers for 8 days of it. However, spending so much time alone has enabled me to completely manage my time and do as I please (well, except I didn’t go into museums or restaurants once I as COVID+). 

The nearby Starbucks opened at 6:30, so I dressed and headed over there for my breakfast to go: Venti coffee, yogurt, and a chocolate croissant. It beats the hotel coffee and breakfast any day, although today I actually wanted eggs. Maybe tomorrow….

The hotel I have been in for the last week is one that I chose because it was conveniently located near the bus station that I would be using several times. When I checked in I asked for a room with a view. She gave me the only room that was ready. It was on the second floor with a view of a parking garage. I laughed when I saw it. 

I had no idea that it would be view for over a week instead of three days. A second floor room proved to be helpful in the long run. I avoided the elevator and took the stairs in and out of the building, limiting my contact with people. Walking up two long flights of stairs, masked and with COVID symptoms, winded me. Good thing I didn’t have to climb more…

The hotel is also over the subway line in Glasgow. I can feel and hear the rumble of trains far below this room. All day. All night. It’s not loud, but it is definitely there. At first I thought it was street traffic, but then I recognized the sound from all the years I took the subway when I lived in Chicago. 

Another constant sound is the call of seagulls. They are unbelievably loud. I’ve lived with seagulls before. They are prevalent in Salt Lake City. There’s an old LDS story about how seagulls saved the early pioneers (my actual ancestors, some of whom came from this very region of Scotland). As the story goes, and it is a Mormon testimony of faith in God, the early settlers had finally managed to get in a good crop of vegetables and were preparing for healthier winter. But grasshoppers showed up and began to eat the plants, destroying the crops. The people were in despair, no idea what to do. They prayed and hoped for some kind of miracle. And then the seagulls arrived and ate the grasshoppers, and saved the crop. A miracle. At least that is how I recall the story. It’s been sixty years since I heard. I’ve thought of seagulls with fondness. Like other scavenger birds, they are important to the ecosystem. They are also really loud, especially when competing for food.

So I am leaving Glasgow this morning and heading three hours north, via train, to Oban, situated on the western coast. I managed, at the last minute, to get a hotel room. I hope it’s decent enough. It is a bit off the beaten bath, which could be a good thing? It’s good long walk to the main part of town, the train station, and ferry. I am hoping I feel like going to Iona tomorrow. That will be a day long journey on my only full day in Oban: a ferry across the bay to the Isle of Mull, a bus across the tip of Mull to the other side for another ferry to Iona. About a two hour, give or take, trip one way. Still, Iona is an important place to visit, the home of Christianity in Scotland. Many say that it is a deep and richly spiritual place. I could use some of that right about now. And some time away from the noises of city life - people and traffic, buses and trains and people. Of course there will be people in both Oban and Iona, it is tourist season after all. Waning tourist season, but the season nonetheless 

And, no doubt there will be more seagulls….

I don’t feel nearly as tired and worn as I look in this photo. I take terrible selfies. Or, maybe I just can’t get used to how old I look (and am)…