Thanksgiving in Scotland

[the names of people and their houses have been changed to preserve their privacy]

TREACHEROUS WEATHER
It was the last Thursday in November, but already the frost had frozen the ground in the Eskdalemuir valley. To warm up the cottage as well as myself, I cooked up an early supper, stoked the fire and then wrapped up warmly and left for the day, a note to my boyfriend on the mantle.

By mid-morning I was ready for a bracing 7 mile walk to the Monastery, yet dressing warmly in layers somehow provided little defence against that bitingly cold north wind. So I picked up the pace, just to keep from freezing. At the time, I had no idea that the lowest temperature in all of Britain had been recorded in Eskdalemuir. But the wind surely felt colder than any I'd ever experienced growing up in the city of London.

After walking for about an hour, a van came barrelling towards me and stopped. The driver rolled down his window and I was pleasantly surprised to see Daniel, the cheerful young good samaritan who had driven me home from the Monastery.

"What are you, crazy?" his American accent conveying surprise.
"Didn't I say I'd pick you up at noon? Why are you walking alone, on such an auspicious day? Get in!" he commanded, opening the passenger door of his van.

Too numb with cold to argue, I meekly complied.

Through shivering teeth, I thanked him for fetching me.
"What makes today so special" I asked
"You really don't know?" He looked at me as if I'd just dropped in from Outer Space.
I shook my head, still shivering, and still none the wiser.
"It's Thanksgiving Day in America. Don't tell me you don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here?"
Without waiting for an answer he continued excitedly.
"No broth and bread at the monastery for us today. Today is for FEASTING! So we're having turkey with all the trimmings up at the old Duncan Farm. And you will be sharing our Thanksgiving Meal!"
"But I'm not American" I objected weakly.
"To share this occasion with friends and family, is all that is required" he countered "Nationality is irrelevent!"

"In that case, I accept" said I, smiling. But inwardly I wondered what I was getting myself into.

THE OLD DUNCAN FARM
The Old Duncan Farm was located several bumpy miles up a long-abandonned farm road. Upon arrival, we discovered a hastily printed note, pinned to the front door that read cryptically:

TURKEY DAY
EAGLE's NEST
LOVE & PEACE

Daniel turned the van around and drove like a maniac back along those frost-heaved roads till we arrived at the base of a large conical hill. During our journey towards "Eagle's Nest" I had learned that Diana had been one of Daniel's assistants in their NASA days. But she had travelled to Europe in the summer of 67 and had now made her home there!

The late sixties were the height of the Free Love era, when the Beatles and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the West. Diana had met Ted whilst travelling with a dozen others, by overland bus to India.

Ted, by contrast, had been an architect, living and working in the States. But he'd shared Diana's dream about building a home in the wilds of Scotland. And he had contributed fully to making their Scottish adventure a reality. They had scouted the area, on their honeymoon, and had immediately fallen in love with this sleepy hamlet and its budding Buddhist centre.

Eventually, we entered a barely visible driveway that wound its long way to the top of the hill and then we two were finally able to exit that van. The view from "Eagle's Nest" was indeed magnificent, with the entire moor spread like a carpet before us, the Esk river snaking through the centre of it. But howling winds discouraged lingering, so I turned towards the house and gasped.

HEXAGONAL WONDER
Before me stood an amazing modern marvel of engineering - a brand new eight-sided abode, gleaming pale gold in the low winter sunshine. The large tinted plate-glass windows had narrow posts separating each section, giving the impression that the dwelling was constructed entirely of glass! With a location that commanded such a magnificent 360 degree view, why not make the most of it.

A door opened and our hostess, Diana, emerged, greeting both Daniel and me like old friends. To my heart she did seem familiar, even though I'd only just met her, at least in this lifetime.

"Come on in and have a hot toddy, Ted is making them now. Go on through to the kitchen"

I had entered through one segment of the house, which contained a combined entrance-utility area attached to a laundry-powder room. Removing my boots, I now walked through the opposite door, into a central section, built around the core of the octagon. This all-important hub supported the roof and also serviced the open plan living-dining-kitchen area, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, utility-entrance and a small powder room.

Following the mouth-watering aroma of roasting turkey, I arrived in a modern, open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, that comprised three full sections of the octagon. Gleaming custom units, wrapped around the centre hub against the inner living room wall, with a door or two for access. A curved melamine kitchen island demarcated the kitchen and provided counter space which now supported the hot rum-toddy bar. Extending through two entire sections of the large living room, was an enormous dining table which had been lavishly set to feed 20.

RUM TODDY
Ted greeted us, a steaming drink, complete with cinnamon stick, in each hand, and bid us welcome to his and Diana's home. Daniel and I gratefully sipped our hot toddies and toasted frequently to their health.

"What happened up at the old Duncan Farm? Why the change of plans, Ted?" asked Daniel

"Their water pipes froze" explained Ted "There's no insulation in these old Scottish buildings!"

"And then, when Diana had a premonition that we'd be having a crowd here at Thanksgiving there was just no stopping her." said Ted, sliding a loving arm round his wife's thickening waist. From the way Diana rubbed her belly, I surmised the couple were expecting their first child. I smiled at Diana, sharing in her happiness

"It's a beautiful home" I chimed in "Did you build it yourselves?"
"Not exactly!" replied Ted "We bought it, almost complete, from a fellow whose wife changed her mind about moving here when she learned that Eskdalemuir was on record as having the coldest weather in Britain! So you could say that we got lucky!"
"We are lucky OUR pipes didn't also freeze!" interjected Diana
"If they had," agreed Ted "we'd no be having a Turkey Day!"

I cringed as Ted attempted to mimic our local Scottish brogue. 
  
CONGENIAL COMPANY
The afternoon passed in a blur of delicous food, endless libations and interesting conversations that ranged from oriental travel tales to Thanksgivings past, all in an accent I could readily understand.

Diana's friends and estwhile colleagues turned out to be some of the more well-established NASA pensioners, who were clearly very much at home around her table. But other neighbours were also warmly greetly when they dropped by for a chat after the meal. Apparently Ted's Toddies had already become legendary, even amongst Scottish locals. 

I'd met and shared adventure tales with a fair cross-section of Eskdalemuir's new American-Buddhist community. So when Daniel drove me home that evening, I had quite a few invitations, complete with intricate travel directions, tucked safely in my pocket. 

It was not the kind of 'meditation' I'd anticipated having when leaving my cottage earlier that day. But sharing Thanksgiving with friends of my own age, who shared my spiritual aspirations, in this wintry back country in the Scottish Lowlands had been, in its own way, the perfect meditation. 

Certainly Ted's ever-present Rum Toddies had helped me to see things from a slightly enebriated 'altered state of consciousness'. Yet, had I arranged matters myself, I could have scarcely ordered a more perfect result. My Angels had known that what I'd really needed to warm my heart was congenial company and intriguing conversations. My days of solitude had ended.

When Angels help provide for our real needs, we should rejoice for the best is yet to come!
SECTION 2 Chapter 5 Living La Vida Local More Eskdalemuir Adventures with the NASA "brats"