Monday, December 31, 2018

Since losing my dad last month, I’ve been struggling with a lot of different emotions. I wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit, but I didn’t want to spend the holidays by ourselves either.

Fortunately, our dear friends in Scotland invited us up to spend Christmas with them in the Scottish Highlands. Perhaps you remember my last visit here when I was hand-feeding reindeer in the Cairngorms National Park?

When you live far away from family, your friends become like your family. Living as an expat for the past eight years has taught me that you can always rely on your friends - your good friends. True friends don’t judge you. They give you a shoulder to cry on when you need it and give you a glass of wine (or two or even three) to cheer you up. That’s what I needed this Christmas season.

We spent three nights cooking, eating, drinking, sitting around a warm fireplace, taking long hikes and talking with our friends – surrounded by the rugged Scottish Highlands. It was a relaxing wee break after I had just worked six days in a row. And absolutely what I needed!

I’ll close this year with some photos from a beautiful part of Scotland. Here’s hoping that 2019 is a happier and healthier year than 2018 ended up being.

Happy New Year!
Joy

Scenic Hikes
Four shadows of four friends hiking on Christmas Day in Scotland.

Birdwatching
Scottish Farm Animals

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1 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

happy new year joy! i hope you have a better 2019. it takes time.