Michael’s Travel Diary

May

May 1

“The shambles’ is a particularly old section of town, with buildings dating from the sixteenth century. I sketched a little girl playing in front of a butcher shop. It will make a good drawing, showing off the architecture, but providing human interest at the same time.

May 4

Durham Cathedral is set on a hill, a high point above the Tyne River, next to the Castle. Durham Castle now houses the University of Durham. In the south door of the Cathedral is a round, metal plate with a handle attached. If someone was accused of crime, was running from the law, touching the metal plate, grasping the handle attached to it, conveyed sanctuary. The person was safe. I am not sure that reaching the door would afford the same sanctuary, today! When did churches cease to provide protection like this? While a police officer, or a police department, might hesitate to invade a house of worship to make an arrest, the hesitation would be in the name of public relations rather than the sanctity of the building.

May 7

I passed Hadrian’s Wall this morning. The Wall was built by the Romans to keep the wild inhabitants of Scotland out of Roman Britain. Sections of the Wall still stand. I stopped at the ruins of a Roman fort at Housesteads. Standing on the wall, looking out to the north, one might imagine the feelings of a Roman soldier as he stood guard. The Celts were vicious warriors. With their blue-painted faces and their battle cries – screams – they frightened even seasoned soldiers. The wall stretched all of the way across Great Britain and protected the Romans and the British until the Roman army withdrew. Then, the Celts were free to plunder. “Put not your faith in princes” is surely true.

May 8

I reached Edinburgh. I’m totally exhausted, and I decided to take the evening off. After checking in at my hotel, I walked to the “Royal Mile,” a street that begins at Edinburgh Castle and runs down hill to Holyrood House. We associate Holyrood with Mary, Queen of Scots. It remains a royal residence.

May 9

I had an email from Carl Williams, the art dealer from Atlanta. He bought my drawings! He plans to use them in a series of prints; he offered me a contract, and he sent me a list of other drawings he would like to have! The reimbursement rate was more than, well, more than I had dreamed it could be!

Is it possible that I could actually make a living as an artist? I’ve dreamed of that, of course, but I have never taken it as a serious possibility. My purpose in attending the Art Institute was to determine if I had the talent to pursue a career in art. Afterwards, well, I knew that my work was good, but being good in school can be different from being good commercially! Commercial success depends on so many other factors than simply being good – choice of subjects, marketing, contacts. Would Carl Williams have looked at my work if Mary McDonald had not emailed him? A full-time artist! Perhaps it could happen!

I spent the day at the abbey in the Firth of Forth. Elizabeth took me out on her friend’s sailboat, and we spent the day there. Her mother owns the hotel where I am staying, and Elizabeth is an art student at the University. When I received the email from Carl Williams, I wanted to tell Allison, but, of course, I’ll never find myself telling her about this or anything else that is important. I thought of Elizabeth, and I realized she would understand how I felt. She had invited me to come to her room to talk, tonight, and I did go upstairs, but I hesitated to knock. Then, I heard voices from her room. I’m happy that I heard the voices. Elizabeth is slightly older than Alicia, and I had no business going to see her at that time of night. I’ll tell her about the email in the morning.

 May 10

I toured Edinburgh Castle, and I saw the crown jewels, the “Honors of Scotland.” Americans think of Scotland and England as a single country, We think of ”England,” the “United Kingdom,” and “Great Britain” as referring to the same country, the same entity. We forget that the union of the countries did not occur until the seventeen hundreds, long after the colonies were established in America. Scottish nationalism is alive and well, and Scotland now has its own parliament and governs at least some of its own internal affairs.

I reviewed the list of subjects that Carl Williams sent me. I have drawn a number of them, and I had planned to draw several others. I revised my schedule. I don’t think that I will make it to France if I want to go home before the end of June. I sent seven additional drawings to Carl this morning, as well as the contract. I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it!

 May 12

It is difficult to escape the shadow of England as one travels across Scotland, since so much of Scotland’s recent history has been bound up with the history of England. Driving across southern Scotland, I visited the ruins of two abbeys, Jedburgh and Melrose. Both were active until the mid-fifteen hundreds, until the reign of Henry VIII. Henry “suppressed” the monasteries in his realm. In the name of correcting abuses, he closed the monasteries, confiscated their land and property, pensioned the monks, killed those who resisted, and left the monasteries to fall into ruin. Although located in Scotland, not England, the border abbeys were in territory that was controlled by Henry. The abbeys at Melrose and Jedburgh are among the most well-preserved of the abbeys, Jedburgh, in particular, could almost be used as a church, if someone would replace the roof and the windows. Both survived better than some of the others because they continued to be used as parish churches for some time after the monasteries were closed.

May 14

I stopped this morning at the “Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond.” Americans know the song as a simple love song about a man and a woman who are deeply in love, but who will never see each other, again. Other versions place the lost love in the seventeen-hundreds, when the woman’s love marches off to fight for Prince Charlie.

This morning, the loch was shrouded in fog. It seemed mysterious, other worldly, perhaps. The fog was thick, but I could just spy a single boat, a red boat, bobbing in the water. The scene didn’t lend itself to a drawing, but it did make a good photograph. I drove along the loch for some time, and, gradually, the fog lifted.

 May16

I drove through Glen Coe this afternoon. It was the site of one of the most treacherous episodes in Scotland’s long history of one clan rising against another. High mountains stand on every side with narrow valleys between them. Back in the seventeen hundreds, the Glen was occupied by members of the McDonald clan. One night, they gave shelter to a group of travelers, all of whom, it turned out, were members of Clan Campbell, the McDonalds’ sworn enemy. During the night, the Campbells rose and killed the McDonalds as they lay in their beds, men, women, and children. Even in Scotland, it still is remembered as an horrific event. Today, rangers will guide you back into the Glen to the site of the massacre.

 May 21

Spent the night at Inverness, and then drove east to the battlefield at Culloden. Hopes for Scottish independence died at Culloden when the English army decisively defeated the Scots who supported Bonnie Prince Charlie. No drawing, this morning, I could not do justice to Culloden. I drove on east and visited Cawdor Castle. It’s a magnificent building. The gardens will be beautiful in the summer. Americans know the castle, or know its name, from Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. We recall, in the opening scene, how the three witches hail Macbeth as “Thane of Cawdor,” “thane” being a Scottish title of nobility that most of us find unfamiliar. I recall that, of all of Shakespeare’s plays, Allison most enjoyed teaching Macbeth.

 May 23

Driving north, I passed a field with a massive wind farm. I couldn’t count the wind mills turning in the breeze! There must have been a couple of hundred, though. I pulled over to sketch them. The drawing is not exactly one of historic Scotland, but it is striking, nevertheless. I have read that people report hearing windmills “hum,” but I found this farm to be silent.

I have not heard from Carl Williams concerning the last drawings that I sent, and I’m feeling a bit anxious. I reached Thurso shortly before dinner time. I’ll take the ferry to Mainland, the largest of the Orkney Islands, tomorrow. We sail at six-thirty in the morning, and I’m staying on board, tonight. I checked in, pulled my car into the ship’s hold, and went looking for dinner.

 May 24

The crew said that the crossing was good, but I was almost sick at my stomach. The waters between the main land and the island are treacherous, and we were tossed about like a toy boat  or so it seemed to me! I was certainly happy when we docked!

May 25

The Ring of Brodgar is one of the largest rings of standing stones. Stonehenge is better known, in part because it is more accessible, a day-trip from London, partly because it is unique, with the large stones lying across the uprights. The Ring of Brodgar is massive, with about 27surviving stones in a circle 104 feet across. The tallest ones reach fifteen feet. It was about to storm this morning at sunrise. Clouds covered the sky, and I was about to head back to the car. Suddenly, a shaft of light broke though, illuminating several of the stones while casting others into shadow. I managed two photographs as the wind rose. I grabbed my supplies and barely reached the car before the rain! The drawings turned out well! Perhaps a bright, colorful sunrise would not be the most appropriate background for this scene, anyway.

 May 26

I had three emails when I returned to my room, tonight. The first was from Stephanie. She recounted a visit she had from Allison. Allison went to apologize for sleeping with Steph’s , husband. She has “guts,” as the saying goes, I will give her that. Stephanie told me that most of what she had told me about Allison and her husband was a lie. There had been no continuing affair.

I’m furious at both of them! At Stephanie for lying about something like that and at Allison. I mean, she refuses to even speak to me, and she apologizes to Stephanie?? She wronged Stephanie, but not me?!! She has NEVER apologized to me, never said she’s sorry, never said a word!

A second email was from Brad WIlks. He told me that Linda’s husband had a heart attack and died last week. I feel terrible for Linda. When I saw her in New York, she talked about her husband all of the time. She seemed to love him very much. I’ll have to find something to say to her.

The third was from John Worth. Our divorce hearing has been scheduled for June 21. The waiting has been painful. I’m still married, but not really. I cannot make plans for my future, not firm ones. I’ve been in limbo. But it’s all coming to an end, just over three weeks! I’ve always imagined, hoped, I suppose, that something would happen, that, miraculously, Allison and I would reconcile. It won’t happen, though. It’s obvious. She’s apologizing to Stephanie, but she will not even speak to me. She obviously wants our marriage to end, and she will have her wish! I can now plan my life, plan my future. What do I want to do?