below big skies

Gullane towards Eyebroughy, 24 November

I thought that I’d shared this walk here already, but as I was looking through the folders of photos that are waiting for the blog posts to accompany them, I came to these images from late November. This was a beautiful walk, and one of our favourites from over the winter months as there were very few people around, so Raf was really settled and confident as he was exploring off-lead, but also, there was this sky…

We’d started this walk later than intended, trying to find that sweet spot between daylight hours and the quietness of walking later in the day after most people have headed home. But it’s a tricky balance as while it can result in some beautiful light, as here, it also means that our walks are generally cut short. Ideally, we’d have walked all the way from Gullane to Eyebroughy beach and spent some time at the latter enjoying the views towards Fidra, but we didn't quite make it as the light was fading quickly and we turned back reluctantly, knowing that we all had a few more kilometres in our legs and the desire to walk further.

This section of rocks above is a favourite spot for me, and has been over recent years. It might seem strange to say that this spot is a favourite as, at a glance, it’s a random stretch of rocky shoreline, but these rocks lie at the end of a quiet beach (in the third photo above), and are only fully exposed at low tide. I’ve watched Harris and Bracken navigate these rocks on many walks, Bracken ploughing through any small pools he encountered while Harris would trot nimbly around them, always so different in their approach.

Bracken was always particularly motivated here as, just round the corner, we’d come to a washed up log that we’d always pause at, and the lads would have a slice of sweet potato chew each. And now, walking towards these rocks, that’s what I think of. Richard was carrying Raf here, but I could also visualise Harris, just ahead, leading the way up towards the narrow path that winds between the marram grasses, and Bracken, just behind Richard, never as agile as Harris but always getting there in his own way.

And so we walked on along this pebbly and rocky shoreline as the sky glowed over the dunes in one direction, while the light faded out over the water in the other with a palette of soft browns and greys. I always enjoy the textures and hues here, and if we hadn’t been chasing the light, knowing we still had to walk back to Gullane and that we’d be reaching that beach in darkness, I’d have paused and taken many more photos.

But that’s for our next walk here. As I’m writing this, our local sunset time has just passed 5pm and that feels so hopeful. I’m thinking of all the longer walks ahead, when we won’t have to turn back because of the early fading light, and when we’ll have the time to just linger and quietly absorb the views.

I wanted to mention this photo below. Often at the moment, when I think of Raf on walks, my mind turns to his reactivity whenever we encounter people, but this photo is also how Raf is on these walks: alert but calm, fully engaged with his adventure. This is what he enjoys most, this freedom of being out exploring. We’ve watched this little man come out of his shell as his personality has developed since last summer, and that has certainly brought challenges, but it has also brought this: this adventurous, confident lad, who’s never happier than when running and sniffing his way along a shoreline or woodland path, far from people.

Gullane towards Eyebroughy, East Lothian, 24 November 2024.

#eastlothian #scotland