Quick before we change our minds

That decision changed our lives. We began to make plans right away before we came to our senses.

To skip ahead many years - Jack and I have just published a book describing two of the years we lived in the highlands, telling of the people we met and loved and the place that was magic to us (see my home page.) I won't repeat those stories here - only to say that we caught the changing of not only a generation, but an ancient way of life.

But back to our story. We had lived and raised our children in our cozy suburban house in the Twin Cities for the prior 12 years. I had lived my whole life in Minneapolis and this move would mean leaving family and lifelong friends for an unknown period of time. It would mean leaving both my job and Jack's customers and we would not be able to work in Scotland (if they think you have to work they won't let you in.) So what would we live on and how would we pass our time once we were there? How would we be accepted by the local people?

We knew we would be living in a tiny village on the sea - far away from the nearest real town. (We knew this because we had found the spot while on a vacation trip several years before.) Jack and I are both city people and knew that living in a small isolated community where everyone knew everyone else would be a completely new experience. But - tally-ho - nothing ventured and all that!