Tranquille. Must be my favourite word, even though it’s not English. Calm, quiet. I was on top of a hill yesterday. My father lives in the countryside, and so when I go there at the weekend to visit, I have a number of square miles of Lochluichart to myself. Before I went up the hill, I took a stroll to a much-loved spot of mine. Toby’s pool, it’s called. I once had a golden Labrador called Toby, and I used to take him there often. Toby’s pool, is one of the most breathtaking places you’re likely to see in Scotland, at least in my opinion. It is a small plunge pool, with a waterfall cascading into it. All you can hear is the water splashing, and the sight of the spray is quite tremendous. The sweet smell of the bracken, the petit gorge formed by the waterfall, the crystal clearness of the water, it’s perfect. I am so lucky, I can go there anytime at all. I take it for granted because I live in the highlands. It’s just such a shame there’s no-one else to share the experience it with. I was sat on a rock, thinking over what has happened to me since the last time I was there. Must be about three quarters of a year ago. My father got re-married. I got a band. I got a new girlfriend (not for long though, it seems), and I’m now working my balls off in school to get into uni. A lot has happened, and I couldn’t have thought it possible the last time I was sat on that same rock. I leaned over the water and took a gulp or five. None of that crappy bottled stuff. This was free, chilled, and the best water I’ve tasted in a long time. Then I got up, and wandered up the hill. Once I got to the top -after quite a struggle, I didn’t realise how out of shape I was-, I sat down on the long grass, and laughed, in awe, at how beautiful this place really is. The view was quite stunning. I could see the best part of the loch, because it is quite big. The water was so calm. The trees rustling below me, imitating the grass around me. The sky was overcast, but I didn’t care. You could hear the whistling of the wind, which was little more than a breeze, but not irritating. I could see the cottage, as well as a few of the others sprayed across the landscape. It had been a while since I’d been there. It is so peaceful, it would be the ideal spot for a picnic, though it is a bit out of the way. I stayed there, sat on the hill, for about twenty minutes. Watching the sheep graze about a quarter of a mile away. Trying to find any sign of civilisation, to no avail. Then I went home to watch some telly. Back in the town however, it’s shite. School’s shite, there’s nothing to do at all. Oh, terrorvision are playing in Inverness in December. That’ll be fun. Dodgy played in Dingwall a couple of months ago. The shitest gig I’ve ever been to. I can’t wait ‘till I’m at uni. (Amy, I was planning to go to Strathclyde too!) I’m going now. If you’ve read till the end, then your suffering has ceased. John x _______________________________________________________________________ FSmail - Get your free web-based email from Freeserve: www.fsmail.net +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "peculiarly deranged fanbase" "frighteningly named +-+ +-+ Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+