Monday 23rd October 2023
'Did the scraping noise wake you this morning?'
'No, what scraping?'
'Frost...'
Argh! There was indeed frost on this icy morning and I was out there waiting for a bus before it began to thaw.
The sky was brilliant and clear but I chose not to wear my leg warmers today and that was a mistake. While waiting for my virtual friend to arrive at Kilwinning station, an hour later, my ankles felt very chilly.
Years ago, I had an idea that it would be great to travel the world and meet my Facebook friends that I'd interacted with but not yet physically met. I didn't formally start the project but it's become a nice angle now, in my travels. I've loved meeting the flesh and blood people but I'm also reassured that virtual friendships are true and have their place in my heart too.
My travels today had me return to the small town of Kilwinning to meet up with a lady from my old South African high school, but who is ages with my younger sister. She moved to Scotland in the 90's so it was interesting hearing about her move and life since then. Her brother was in my school year and the parallels and cross roads had us realise how many connections there are, yet we'd both lived very different lives.
She took me around to the stunning ruins of the 1100's Abbey and pointed out that the town houses the original Masonic lodge which is known as Lodge Number '0' and Mother Lodge. Irish, Scots, Picts, Missionaries, Monks, Masons, Celts, mines, iron-founding, the original home of Pringle Knitwear, mills and Wilson's food all associated with the history of the small town. Unfortunately like so many small towns, the main centre looks rather empty of retailers and the big industry all left last century but the ruins stand tall demanding attention.
In spite of the bitter wind, I managed to take some pictures, with my frozen fingers which my phone struggled to communicate with. I stand in awe of the huge stonework and structures that are carefully maintained. The museum is unfortunately only open a couple of days every week. My friend told me of a recent story of a vehicle crashing into a building which resulted in the discovery of a hidden room full of documents and photos from the 1960s that are now presented in the museum.
After our exploration we stopped in at a local pub to warm up with some hot chocolate. I love hearing stories about towns from the people that live in them and today was a brilliant day of meeting a Facebook friend and strengthening a connection.
Late afternoon there was more strengthening when my nephew returned from his quick trip to a very hot South Africa. He was sitting in shorts and a t-shirt while my hands took 3 hours to warm up. Another nephew arrived after dinner and then the resident nephew joined us in the sitting room. It's not often that the males are in the majority in my female strong family, so it was an interesting time.
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