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Stirling, Scotland — Castles, Heroes, Wind, Rain, and Family
In 2004, I took an amazing and memorable trip through the United Kingdom with my son, parents, aunt and uncle, and my brother’s family. The memories are lasting and I am thankful for the experience and the time with family. This is a reflection of one especially cherished day from that trip.
Stirling, Scotland — 2004
The rain is falling gently, more of a heavy mist now, blurring and softening the edges of everything in my view like an old photograph. I’m sitting on the damp moss of a rock, peering through the woods of Abbey Craig down to the open valley below and the River Forth that splits the green sprawl in two.
Save for the modern houses, this is the same view of William Wallace and his man as they lay in wait in these very woods, watching the English approach on the other side of the river 1297. A lover of history and an aspiring author of historical fiction, I spent many months studying the battles fought by the Scottish against the English and King Edward I, known as Edward the Longshanks.
I wonder if it was misty and drizzly like this autumn day on that autumn day more than 700 years prior…
