We’ve been to The Garden of Cosmic Speculation’s Younger Brother
We’ve just had a few days in SW Scotland where I had a writing holiday. I don’t mean a holiday with writing, rather a holiday from writing, something I hope will lead to me being so reinvigorated that words will skip from my pen when I next take it up.
We had a good time looking at beautiful scenery and walking stunning coastal paths. Because we were a bit further north we experienced the spring blossom all over again. The blossom on the may (hawthorn) was wonderful – I have never seen it so abundant – the bluebells not quite over, and the gorse still in bloom; the countryside looked like a garden.
We love all things to do with gardens so while we were there we went to one designed by Charles Jencks, whose garden with the wonderful name of the Garden of Cosmic Speculation is truly amazing. The one we visited on Monday, Crawick Multiverse, was its younger brother and one day may grow up to be as good as its elder. Wait for it – the Multiverse represents the hypothetical group of multiple universes – or as DH said it was about little boys damming streams and mucking about! It is an incredible place, a landscape rather than a garden, but you’ll be nodding off … so I’ll just say that if you’re interested Google it.
We saw no dolphins but we did see a red squirrel, a lovely sight but sad because they are now so rare where we live, where once they were common. We have lots of the greys in our garden and I do NOT like them. My dislike grew from the moment I saw one that had climbed onto the gable end of our house and was reaching into a swallow’s nest to try and take the eggs or fledglings. We have fewer swallows and house martins than previous years although our garden must be a veritable fine-dining experience for them. We noticed that the car windscreen was not completely covered in dead insects after our journey up the motorway; it would have been years ago, a disturbing situation because it means that insects must be getting fewer, too, dangerous for the countryside and humankind.
