PURE MOUNTAIN ENERGY
THE SPRING tumbled down, an effervescent vein of energy sprung from rock and moss, its verdant banks flush with velvet green sphagnum. The water shone bright and clear, diamonds in sunlight, frothing on a bed of fine sand jewelled with tiny smooth pebbles. Snaking its way down the blank face of an anonymous hillside in a zigzag line of least resistance, the burn bounced down dozens of bonsai waterfalls like an ornamental Garden of Eden.
Water that comes straight out of rock – you couldn’t make it up! Springs are wells of life and joy as well as refreshment. I drank my fill, a clear sparkling litre, before stripping to my waist. Kneeling, I slowly dipped my head clean under, letting the icy, aerated flow wash away layers of fatigue and worry. I felt made new.
Mountains are places of miracles, of blessings, baptisms and benedictions. Renewal is a story we tell over and over, like a mantra. We never get bored of being renewed.
AN OVERSHADOWED START
The trip hadn’t begun so auspiciously. I’d
