Well last night began with the surreal sight of a giant puppy bestriding the Golden Gate bridge before tumbling adorably into Isobel’s arms (back to normal size thankfully). Zoom backgrounds have certainly been a source of entertainment for everyone this past year. Speaking of entertainment it is still not to late to register for the SAW conference this weekend, where all 18 online workshops can be viewed online at your convenience.
Anywho, last night saw the adjudication of the Travel Article Competition by Greenock Telegraph reporter Susan Lochrie. She said it was a delight to read all 10 articles and was impressed by the creativity of such a ‘well travelled’ group. In this time of lock-down it was wonderful to enjoy the pleasure (albeit vicariously) of going places currently denied us.
Tony’s predilection for talking to statues story certainly paid dividends earning him first place (not to mention extra bonus points for the longest title ever) and will no doubt have us all skedaddling back to North Berwick to experience its hidden treasures once lock-down ends. As if that wasn’t enough Laurie’s description of the delicious fare on offer at the 2nd best restaurant in Copenhagen’s had all members salivating in culinary Valhalla. I mean who wouldn’t be impressed by a burger the size of Thor’s hammer. Colette’s lyrical trip to the land of mist, mountains and potholes showed both the beauties of Skye and the consequences of being too accessible. Ho hum. Perhaps we are all just a flock of unruly sheep at heart.
The winners (of course everyone’s a winner really) were:
1st Place…………….: Tony Watt (Puffins, Two Strangely Quiet Men And A Very Long Border)
2nd Place……………: Laurie McGuire (Finding Valhalla: Food Adventures in Copenhagen)
3rd Place……………: Colette Hannigan (Skye)
Highly Commended.: Margaret Grant (Land Of Contradictions)
Since we had a little extra time after the adjudication we ended the evening with some writing on the theme of St Patrick’sDay as suggested by Palo. As usual you couldn’t make up the wide range of responses that we got on that subject… Though of course we did actually make them up… Anyway you know what I mean. Colette began by taking a wrong turn in Dublin from which we joined up with David blundering around Ballybunion before ending up at a St Pat’s Day parades where they dyed the river green. Then there was and Isobel’s tale of Finn McCool and finally Paul literally driving the snakes out of Ireland in what might have been a Ford Escort.
Next GWC meeting is the 31st March – featuring the ever popular AGM. Apart from the usual business this is a chance for members to come up with suggestions for next years syllabus and general improvements for the club. So put your thinking caps on.
Ho Hum, onwards and upwards.