PHOTOGRAPHY | REFLECTIONS | SCOTLAND | SANDI’S APRIL PROMPT

What Lurks In The Depths Of Loch Lomond?

April Six Word Photo Story Challenge “Reflect”

A submerged shoe loses its sole.

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, near the village of Rowardennan, sits a wonderful resource. The Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment provides lodgings and laboratories for scientists researching aspects of the environment including lakes, streams, woodlands, and moorland.

As a Biology undergraduate, I was lucky enough to spend time at this stunning facility, with its glorious library at the top of the building, and the huge windows that make it feel like you are sitting in the ultimate treehouse.

We (humanely) trapped and released all kinds of rodents, catalogued the birds of the surrounding forest, analyzed the plankton of the loch, and spent many enjoyable evenings at the Clansman Bar nearby. When we returned from the pub we’d often sit on the pier pictured above, looking at the countless stars overhead with the deep darkness of the woodland behind us.

As a sensitive soul, my classmates found it hilarious to try to freak me out, with tales of an axeman in the woods, whereupon they would run away leaving me alone in the dark. One night, in my rush to catch up with my fleeing friends, my shoe came off. My ‘prince’ approached — and threw it into the loch!

And there it sits to this day. After two decades lurking in the depths of the water, I’m sure it has disintegrated!

Thanks to Sandi Parsons for this thought-provoking prompt and to the editors of Six Word Photo Story Challenge, Mary Chang Story Writer and Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles.

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