Up, walked Mix, showered and breakfasted before setting off about half past ten to drive to Loch Lomond to conduct a wedding on Inchtavannach, the island made famous by its association with Saint Kessog and his followers.
Rachel, who was driving on the way there, decided that we would take the Stirling Road so that we could see the Kelpies as we passed. It was a mistake! As we approached Stirling the motorway traffic stopped. We queued without moving for ages and so we turned back, left the motorway and decided to drive through Stirling itself. This too was a mistake! There was a civic event and the traffic in the town was absolutely jammed. After another period of waiting we turned around and drove to Glasgow, making our way to Loch Lomond along the M8 enduring additional traffic jams at the approach to the Erskine Bridge and on the way to Balloch. However we arrived in time and caught the boat across to Inchtavannach with the rest of the guests.
Roy had set up a little marquee on the island and it was there that the wedding took place – everyone being a little taken-aback by the good weather which arrived with the guests. The sun shone and it was a really lovely occasion. I had been invited to conduct the wedding of Roy’s sister, Sharon, and her husband-to-be, Richard, before leaving Luss and because it wasn’t at the Church and didn’t interfere with anyone else (no new minister has yet been appointed to Luss) I thought that it was fine for me to honour that commitment. I’m glad that I did because Inchtavannach and Roy’s family have always been important to me and I always feel that the island is one of those places where the distance between heaven and earth is very short – truly a ‘thin’ place.
It was a lovely wedding, I suppose it may be the last wedding I conduct and, if so, I will be happy that this was my final one. After the service we had a buffet and the wedding speeches before crossing back to the mainland at which point most people were going on to the Duck Bay Marina but, because of the distance, we set off for home.
The return journey was uneventful and we were home by half-past eight. I loved being back on Loch Lomond but I came back counting my blessings that we are now living here – no midges (the backs of my knees were eaten alive as I conducted the wedding), no traffic jams (we rarely see much traffic around here and certainly never have to plan to avoid heavy traffic), and such a good climate: it is warm and we have very little rain. But it is not just places, much more it is people, and it was so good to see Roy and Susan and to share with their family in such a special day.
As one would expect I took some pictures:
Back home we had a snack – it was more than that, quite a feast really – while we watched an old episode of Foyle’s War before walking the dogs and retiring to bed, unusually tired.
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