I said goodbye to Iona on Monday morning and began the long journey back to Oxford. Two days later and now I have some time to reflect. I will continue to post blogs attached to this project for a couple of weeks. I still have much to say and in fact some distance from the island may help in crystallizing my thoughts into finer ideas. This post is just to offer some of my initial reflections on the week I spent on Iona and on my journey home.
I front-loaded the geography of the island in this project because I felt it was necessary to do so. On reflection however, it was the time spent walking the island and taking in the physical environment that I found most valuable in my journey, and those were the days I enjoyed the most on Iona. The geography of Iona was at the forefront of my mind by both necessity and interest. Despite over 1400 years passing since the monastery was founded on this little island, I could feel as if I were in the very same geography that I previously only read about. Every sight, sound and footstep gave me a deeper understanding of what was previously words on a page. It was those days in which I tried to take in the actual historic sites on Iona that left me feeling the most disenchanted and empty. I will discuss these experiences in a post soon.
The first ferry trip and my bus ride across mull went smoothly. I was on the bus with many fellow pilgrims who all were reflecting on their time on Iona. They were discussing how they wished they had more time, and lamenting their return to work, or their home countries. In contrast I felt, and feel, that you are given the time that you are given; even if I could have filled another two or three days on Iona easily, there was as much relief and acceptance in getting on that ferry and bus as there was sadness. Maybe trying to strike my campsite in a cloud of midges and in the rain was the catalyst for such a cold acceptance.
Reaching Oban after my second ferry journey, my mind switched from reflective Iona-time, to the pace and schedule of modern transport and infrastructure: what time does my train leave? How best to reach the station? I’ll need to get a seat, which train car should I try to find one on? The train to Glasgow and the connection to London were both crowded and my re-entry into the modern world was swift and seamless. Even when I got to London and had over half an hour to make my connecting train to Oxford, I was trying to rush and make an earlier one and was disappointed when I missed it. I didn’t feel the same disappointment leaving Iona.
The train I took to Oxford was virtually empty. I was the only one in my carriage. Now that the sun had set you could not see anything outside the windows. Pulling into Oxford, it was nice being a familiar place again. After a short walk I was back home.
An Eye on the Sail 