Friday 24 October 2008

The road to Corrie Fee

We went to visit that well-known Scotsman, Angus Glen! Well, Glendoll, actually! We were on holiday in Kirriemuir for a few days last week and on Tuesday decided to go exploring! There is a car park at the end of the road; you have to pay £1.50 to help pay for its upkeep. It was a sunny day, if breezy and bitterly cold in the wind. There are 5 tracks to walk from the Glendoll car park and we chose the green track - it leads to the Corrie Fee Nature reserve and 'breathtaking views' of the Corrie.

The road was a forest track. Almost all of the time, we were walking through the forest. (How many trees have been planted in Scotland in the last 50 years - answers on a postcard please!) It was quite gentle to begin with and gradually got steeper. Then we had another choice: the blue route had been the same as the green route, till about two-thirds of the way up, then it went off to the right and along the side of the river. We decided to stick with the green route and keep going up. Then the road became a narrow path through the trees, still climbing up into the hills; was there no end to these trees?

Finally, we came to the fence; there was a gate and a stile; on the other side of the fence, no more trees and we could see Corrie Fee. It is indeed a breathtaking view. It would have been even more breathtaking if the sun had shone constantly and not been clouded over, but you can't have it all ways in Scotland in October! We sat for a while and admired the view; we took some photographs to celebrate our achievement. (OK, it is not Everest, but you don't have to climb Everest to be an achiever!)

Then we turned to come back down the hill. All of a sudden walking became easy. We could stride out confidently and strongly because now we were going downhill; what had seemed to take hours (it didn't really; it just seemed that way) on the way up, took a matter of minutes on the way down. Perhaps it was the thought of a Forfar bridie for lunch at the bottom that spurred us on. We enjoyed our walk on Tuesday; it was cold, but we left Glendoll with a sense of achievement and a need for a hot cup of coffee at the Glen Clova Hotel.

Why am I telling you this story? Our perspective on life changes with our circumstances, but God surrounds us everywhere. Go to read Psalm 139, especially verses 7-12. Michael Wilcock in his book gives this section of the psalm the title How God surrounds me. The answer? Everywhere! No matter our circumstances, no matter our perspective on life, God is with us.

Happy climbing!