Bits and Bobs
I’m headed back to Edinburgh today (to see Aidan dance at the Fringe Festival!), so I figured on the long train ride I’d share some random tidbits from my time in Rum. Think of this as the junk drawer of posts!
Manx Shearwaters: Rum is one of the biggest breeding grounds for the Manx Shearwaters, who nest in little burrows throughout the Rum Cuillin Also, their scientific name is “Puffinus puffinus” — despite the fact that they are not Puffins.
Hooded Crows: These guys were all over the island. Their heads and wings are black, but their body is a grayish white. In addition to being big chatterboxes, they were super clever — they would grab shellfish and drop them on the rocks to crack them open, meaning you’d find shells scattered about very far from shore.
Poop Mushrooms: Because it’s so wet on Rum, any big piles of cow or stag poop grew mushrooms. I found these poopshrooms hilarious.
Magnifying Posts: The Nature Trail loop had a few cute little posts with a magnifying lens on top and a sign that encouraged walkers to put a flower or a leaf under it to view it more closely.
“Oily” appearance of the boggy areas: The reason for this is actually so cool.
Cute craft “shack shops” around the island: Several people had adorable little ‘shacks’ set up where they were selling homemade goods. They all worked on the honor system, where folks could leave cash or use a QR code. Pictured below is ‘Drift’, Fliss’ shop, and the Witchery, Sylvia’s shop.
Dogs of Rum: Rosie and Jake were always up for a good scratch.
Heather: The hills were covered in it, giving them a beautiful purple hue. But it’s gorgeous up close too. Also, wearing heather in your hat is supposed to bring you luck.
The Bloopers: I had a wonderful time on Rum, and traveling in Scotland was very easy. But there were certainly some bloopers. For one, I fell. A lot. Nothing major (thankfully!) but there were sooo many slips in those muddy stream bed paths that left me flat on my butt. I also mispronounced everything. I tried really hard to learn the correct pronunciation though, and people were generally nice about correcting me, even if they were slightly amused. And then of course, instead of buying jam I bought jelly, marveling at the odd shape it came in. But in Scotland ‘jelly’ is what what we in America call JELLO. So yeah, that didn’t work out very well for my sandwiches…
Stream Water: It was SO CLEAR and SO delicious.
Fun Scottish mountain names:
Munros are mountains that are 3,000 feet (914.4 meters) or more. There are 282 Munros in Scotland, and people try to collect or “bag" them.
Corbetts are mountains with heights between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762-914.4 meters) that have a prominence (drop) of at least 500 feet (152.4 meters). All of the Rum Cuillin peaks are Corbetts.
Future Visits and what’s next for the story: I already can’t wait to come back to Rum :) Besides seeing more stars, I’d love to explore the coast more (maybe by kayak?), especially the Papadil stack and old lodge.
As for the story I’m working on, I’ll be spending the fall organizing my notes and experiences and shaping them into a narrative (or narratives).
And lastly… some more stunning pictures of Rum (because my camera roll is SO FULL!)
