I have a lot of respect for people who live on Iona and find the time to blog regularly. At the moment I am living such a hectic existence that sitting down in front of a computer to compose interesting prose is not really on my radar!The Iona Open came and went, I finished top half with a round of 46 (over 11 holes, best 9 are counted) while the winner came in with a scorching 33. At least I have set a reasonable target to beat next year (and I know I can do it, carding a 42 in a round last week). It was a great day, with 68 competitors from as far away as the USA and various parts of Europe all coming together for the golf and a picnic afterwards.
Since then I've had some friends to visit, and spent the past few weeks helping out in my usual role in the Community Shop. As is the nature of this place, people come and people go, with some departures affecting you more than others. Having spent the summer swimming (almost!) every day, I recently lost my swimming-buddy and am struggling to keep up with the discipline of immersing myself in frankly chilly water every day! The last swim we had was a rather epic adventure off the side of Freya, a clinker built gaff-rigged ketch (which I recommend to anyone visiting Iona in the future: http://www.boattripsiona.com/) which we sailed round to Balfour's Bay on the tidal island of Erraid and then dived off!
I have ten days left here on Iona, and will have been here a year next week. I can't think of a better way to have spent this year; the place, people and the experiences in which the two have combined will stay with me forever.
Since then I've had some friends to visit, and spent the past few weeks helping out in my usual role in the Community Shop. As is the nature of this place, people come and people go, with some departures affecting you more than others. Having spent the summer swimming (almost!) every day, I recently lost my swimming-buddy and am struggling to keep up with the discipline of immersing myself in frankly chilly water every day! The last swim we had was a rather epic adventure off the side of Freya, a clinker built gaff-rigged ketch (which I recommend to anyone visiting Iona in the future: http://www.boattripsiona.com/) which we sailed round to Balfour's Bay on the tidal island of Erraid and then dived off!
I have ten days left here on Iona, and will have been here a year next week. I can't think of a better way to have spent this year; the place, people and the experiences in which the two have combined will stay with me forever.
1 comments:
and a great place for spiritual formation.
Pete
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