Menondering; The Art Of The Journey

In the early days of this blog, I ran a 'dictionary' so folk could translate my titles; it became onerous, and stats showed it not really being consulted. Mostly now, I recycle a few basics, and then the subtitle advises what you might expect from the post. Occasionally an entirely new creation appears. Today, though, I return to a full description of the keyword - for menondering has been around since the early days and relates, as you might deduce, to meandering.

That is the bit of van life from which I derive one of the greatest pleasures: waking up in the morning and making a decision about which direction to go. Perhaps some planning has taken place the day before; perhaps not. Maybe there are two or three options on hand to reduce the entirely random. But random is okay, too, and can offer up some great experiences.

Make that the bit of Life. I have been a roamer since I could walk. A dromaniac, remember! 

After the lovely day and restful night by the River Dee, The Grey and I menondered a few miles up the road to Drum Castle. It is on the list for the National Trust for Scotland and right along the general direction I was heading. 

Given that the weather was continuing to present as summer, I again opted not to take the internal tour and instead admired the building from the exterior, though I did take the opportunity to enter the chapel for a few quiet moments.  I had a short woodland walk just because I could and admired the mighty playground of castles and frames created from some of the wood naturally gathered from the property; that was possibly the busiest part of the entire estate! Yelps of joy and voices filled with adventure and wonder drifted over from this place, and one couldn't help but smile.  After the woods and chapel, I headed down to the walled garden via the pond...

...oh but that was just a tease. I am saving the walled garden shots and one or two others for Thursday's post! Be sure to return for that.

Meanwhile, I will say that the single disappointing thing about my visit here on this day was that "Mary's Larder" turned out to simply be a small, wheeled cabin that was running out of food supplies even by 11:30... very poor planning on a school holiday in summer. I left then and drove another few miles north to stop by an ancient monument and make my own lunch. When visiting the site, I was greeted by the farmer's dog, who clearly understood her role as guide and guardian!

The possibility of spending the night on that layby did cross my mind - however, there was a surprising amount of traffic and the road narrow, so decided instead to head up to Dalmadilly Ponds. I spent two nights and one full day there - not venturing down to the ponds themselves, as it was quite a hill to negotiate. I did, though, have fun watching the almost endless stream of people turning up to go swimming and paddle-boarding, kayaking and, in one case, scuba diving, plus fishing and picnicking ... and playing the chanter and drums! A happening place, Dalmadilly.

It was also one of those places that happened by the random and unexpected—a proper delight. I did, though, have to keep in mind that the main purpose of pursuing the back roads of Aberdeenshire was to get back to Macduff Aquarium for the last weekend. The days were moving along.