Notices by Lucy Wallace (snoweider@mastodon.scot)

"Popular media and travel writers have presented Scotland’s Highlands and Islands as a 'romantic wilderness' or 'people-less paradise' for centuries" 🖋️

But Eddie Stewart FSAScot, PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow, believes that "through archaeology, we can challenge the use of imagined ‘wild’ pasts and understand that this ‘emptiness’ is a modern phenomenon":

#Scotland
#Archaeology
https://www.digitscotland.com/a-people-less-paradise-what-archaeology-tells-us-about-the-climate-crisis-and-the-emptiness-of-scotlands-highlands-and-islands/
https://www.digitscotland.com/a-people-less-paradise-what-archaeology-tells-us-about-the-climate-crisis-and-the-emptiness-of-scotlands-highlands-and-islands/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2wet9ljXunMuM7yN3sdIe6Fsx7xQVF26J3nHPMlu6r2ztWAYCp6u6X-iA_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Beautiful in Glen Rosa today. Back at work on a walking wildlife tour. Lots of great action from kestrels, buzzards, golden eagles, cuckoos, whinchat, and hen harrier.

Lovely profile of two amazing folk and a great showcase for @walkhighlands 🤩

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72py4xg2w4o

Meanwhile, I'm hobbling! 🤕 But I managed to get 4km in the bag today with a walk to Machrie Stone Circles with Nuis & Wally. The average speed was DofE pace (2kmph). Saw curlew, stone chat, and loads of lovely skylarks larking about. Amused myself by tying Nuis to the stone where the celtic giant Fingal allegedly tied up his naughty dog Bran.

I miss work, running, and feeling like a purposeful human, but unlike Nuis, I've got the benefit of seeing the bigger picture, hopefully. 😬 /2

#Arran

Onwards & upwards! A few months ago, I couldn't imagine ever riding shotgun in the front of the van with this boy again. The jump onto the front seats was too high for his broken body. Since the accident, he's been riding in the back, all sad & drooling. Today, normality was restored, & he rode up front with us no problem. 🥳 We've been reducing his pain meds, too. As of tomorrow, he's off the gabapentin which he's been on since Sept, (we'll keep using the anti-inflammatories a bit longer). /1

So lovely in the sunshine today! 🌞 Went for a run over the Clauchlands hills. It's not far or high, but I've been subconsciously avoiding a run over these little bumps due to anxiety about steep paths, up and down. I find running on the steeper stuff really challenging. Today, I decided to put my big pants on and embrace the opportunity of having terrain like this on my doorstep. It was fun! More please. 🥳

#Arran
#TrailRunning

@CloudyMrs ha yes! Although the #dailyfail somehow made a story about denied access in England about how unfair it is that Scots have their own access laws.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12837357/amp/English-banned-beauty-spot-Scots-roam-free-Fury-landowner-blocks-river-south-national-border-access-remains-open-villagers-side.html

The message here is that the great unwashed are the source of any harm that comes to our countryside, and that farmers are blameless custodians of the land. 🤔

#RightToRoam

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/26/gates-left-open-and-crops-destroyed-the-risks-and-benefits-of-right-to-roam