loch Ard

I stayed in and around the hotel as little as possible, as I felt too ashamed to encounter any of the guests, they all looking glum and unhappy. On my next day off I drove first to Aberfoil on the Trossachs Trail route, a scenic and beautiful road through the huge mountains.
It wasn't the perfect day, and it was beginning to get a bitty chilly, as it was now the beginning of September, and everywhere the coming of winter was announced. The Rowan trees were carrying loads of berries, not red yet, but by the time I would go home, they would be beautifully red. The leaves of some trees were already starting to turn yellow, and there was a definite chill in the morning air.
After visiting my favourite shop in Abefoil that sold antiques, specially beautiful silver antique jewelery, but also all kinds of other stuff, then on to the gift and garden shop, where you could find gifts that would please all tastes, I had a cuppa and a cake, and then drove on to loch Ard, where I would camp for the night.
 I found a beautiful spot under the trees, with a wee stream singing joyfully as it rippled away into the loch,where I put up my small tent, hoping that I would be warm enough.
I was as always as happy as a lark, as to me nothing could ever beat being so close to nature, and I walked for miles enjoying the small fish jumping out of the water to catch midges that were swarming around in huge clouds, and also the sheep that watched me with their soft eyes as I passed them, I suppose wondering at this person invading their grazing fields.

On my way back I found an old rope swing, but this one was tied to form a seat, and it gave me a bit of nostalgia for days gone passed, as I knew that this was a favourite spot of the many Gypsies that roamed the country in days gone by. It is so sad that people's whole way of existence can be destroyed by just a few people that was put in a seat of authority, and that by a stroke of a pen, stating that Gypsies had to stay in houses, forced them into a life of confined misery.
I decided to try out the swing, but the moment I had kicked myself into the air, I got one huge panic attack, as the swing was tied to a tree on the verge of a considerable slope, and when I found myself gliding through the nothingness of the air, with the vegitation far below me, my heart almost stopped at the thought that I might not be able to get my footing at the starting point! I did, and then started one of the best times I ever had, with me kicking the swing further and further, and feeling the cool wind slapping my face as I flew like a bird through the air, high above the earth, and I was as contented as I could ever be!