The Tuesday tree: friendly oak by a gate
Tired out. That’s how I feel today. The end of the holidays was extremely busy and extremely short on sleep. Then yesterday evening we delivered our elder son to his boarding school. He was so excited to be back and got a wonderful welcome from his friends, so it was good to be able to leave him looking so happy. But I came home and, in traditional prep-school mum style, burst into floods of tears at the sight of his empty bed at bedtime.
This afternoon, then, I’m sharing with you a calming photo of a friendly old oak. It stands by the gate between the woods and the cow pasture, overlooking a little lochan. With its outstretched limbs and green shade, I always find it a comforting presence. Here is a good spot to stop and reflect, before getting on with the rest of the day.
You might enjoy Morning sun in the beech woods.
Dancing Beastie 
Aww, how sad. It’s good that you have a friendly tree to calm you.
Thank heavens for trees!
I can understand your distress… you know that your son is in good hands and receiving the best education possible for the life he will have, but you have an indissoluble bond, and miss daily life with him. He can have the best of both: a wonderful school to expand his knowledge base, and a wonderful family and place to come home to.
I hope that the time passes quickly, until his next visit home.
By the way, I found an nice blog this am by a young-ish woman in Edinburgh who is a gifted knitter and retired academic, since she had an unexpected stroke and after-effects about a year and a half ago. http://textisles.com/
“Needled” has info on Kate’s original knitwear designs, yarns and tools, travels, and the frustrations of recovery from brain injury in her mid-30s.
Thank you for your understanding, Margaret; you have got it spot on.
I have been a great fan of Kate at Needled for some time – in fact there is a link to her blog on this page! We have compared notes over our various ‘head cases’ in the past. She is a most inspiring writer, and I’m delighted that you have discovered her blog too.
A long-time friend in New England will be taking her 14-year-old son off to boarding school for the first time tomorrow. I expect to hear from her about the bursting-into-tears bit.
BTW, one of my brothers and his family just came back from their first trip to Scotland. They got to Rothiemurchus, as all good wandering Shaws are wont to do.
I didn’t know there was a Shaw connection with Rothiemurchus – it is Grant land there – but I’m glad that your relatives got there. It is one of my top places in Scotland, just the best of everything. Hope they had a good trip.
My daughter just started her second year, Senior Kindergarten, and I was so sad to put her on the bus. Fortunately she arrives home in the late afternoon. Today I was just thinking about Canada’s public school system and how fortunate we are to have such a great one in place and how lucky I am not to have to send my children away to boarding school because I would probably end up getting any job at the school so I could be close to them!!!
It must make the holidays really special to have your son home though and for you to know he is getting a good education. Going away to school must make everyone appreciate their family so much more too.
What kind and wise philosophy you offer: thank you. I hope your daughter is settling happily into her new school year.
You are indeed lucky to have a good public school system. Education in Britain is scandalously polarised. We are lucky enough to be able to pick and choose, but many of our friends are not. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Scotland was famous for the fine education it gave to rich and poor alike. It looks like that proud tradition is nothing but history now, unless our Nationalist government manage to reverse the decline.
I don’t want to depress you, but I have to tell you that when our son went back to university on Monday I went into his bedroom after he’d gone and sat down and cried great gulping tears of grief. And he’s nearly 21. But that’s no reason not to miss him, nor falling over huge training shoes in the hall, bass singing in the shower, making me a cup of tea when I get home from work, annoying his sister by telling her how she should be eating/exercising, towering bowls of cereal as a ‘snack’, a wicked sense of humour…
Actually, Linda, in a funny kind of way you cheer me up. Your prose poem to trainers and tea is a very touching love letter to your son. What is grief but the flip side of love? I hope he’s having a brilliant time, and that he comes home soon to give his mum a big hug.
The gate puts the size of that tree in perspective. And it does look like a welcoming tree that would soak up a lot of parenting tears. I wonder if it could be moved to the mountains here…my son is about to get his driver’s license.
Oh, boy, good luck! There’s always something to worry about, isn’t there!