Up at 5:15am, waved cousin & uncle good-bye at 5:40 and felt very smug about being on the road 20 minutes earlier than planned. You see, I was aiming for the midday ferry to Orkney on the theory that I could avoid driving home in Orkney in the dark. Hmm. What I hadn’t thought about was that I was driving unfamiliar roads in the pitch dark for well over two hours in the morning. In the rain. Again. And, as before, well under the speed limit. I could see the arrival time on my SatNav inching later and later as I cruised along at a frightening 55 mph, with transport trucks and school buses overtaking me.
What was going through my mind during those hours and hours? When I wasn’t freaking out about the lights of the oncoming vehicles, I was working out how I can place my next order and arrange for a delivery firm to pick it up, regardless of cost. All I know is that I am not leaving this damned island again any time soon. At least not until there is 10 hours of continuous daylight. (Because, to be fair, when it did brighten, the drive was absolutely beautiful – mountains, farmland, coastline – just lovely.)