In the Company of Strangers

Once upon a time, a couple from the Midwest in the United States took a long, long journey to a far away place, a place of water, sky, mountains, sheep and wildflowers.  In this land, people of good hearts and a lilting language lived.  They spoke in poetry and told wonderful stories.  Let's visit some of these characters:

• a Glaswegian cab driver who described the look of his sulky, teenaged daughter as "the look of one thousand stares"
• a distributor of British made vacuum cleaners on a religious pilgrimage to Iona with a twinkle in his eyes, ruddy cheeks and stories to tell
• the English actor David Suchet, in his every day personna on a lashing wet day in the Iona Heritage Centre, sharing a video program with the handful of other visitors
• young Charles, wearer-of-Viking-hat, lover of Viking culture and church architecture (and vicars) and his loving, devoted mother Charlotte, soon to be made redundant from her teaching post.  Charles, with a terminal disease, partial blindness, mild CP, a stroke survivor, walking with a limp and a strong need for paternal love.  Charles:  talkative, other-worldly, living intensely, needing hugs and touches.  Charlotte, abandoned by her husband at Charles' birth, ignored by both sides of the family and soon to face unemployment.  Cheerful, determined, careful Charlotte.  Mother and son on holiday, watching every penny, camping wild, alone together. 
• a young woman of tumbling, curly, soft red hair dressed in a mossy, green sweater trimmed in grosgrain ribbon, a green tweed skirt and knee high wellies. 
• an English woman on the ferry to Harris who comes back every year, for the landscape and seascapes and the mystery that is Harris
• our neighbor down the lane in Harris, who walks in the heavy rain without umbrella or hat, his snow white hair shining in the gray rain, a man of "wee" jobs in the community, helping his neighbors with sheep shearing and sheep rustling (is there such a thing?)
• an English couple who spoke in whispers about a secret hotel/castle on the south of the island in a secret location
• a Danish/Scottish potter who, with his photographer wife, renovated an old Mission House, escaping the demands of life in London
• a world class weaver, provider of Harris Tweeds to the tailors on Savile Row, an MBE
• members of the Harris Gaelic Choir, singing songs of beauty and longing with clear, strong voices of passion and purity.  Singers who bring tears to the eyes of the listeners.

This place of peace, this mystical place is peace:  inner and outer peace.  It is a place of rest, of clean air.  This place feels like home, home in the truest sense.