Friendship Is Like Whisky…or maybe a Tennents

I knew three years ago that I’d return to Alness. Not simply for the reason that Scotland is beautiful. But more so because of the friendships I formed here. Nearly every person in the congregation embraced me and took me in. I’ve spent years in a few different places, and I can assure you how rare that feeling is. And that’s to be expected I suppose. We live in a world where we are all simply trying to make it to the other side. And that process can be a struggle when you feel like you’re doing it completely on your own.

Chandler went home today. Being the last Outlander aside from myself. Made me reflect on the last 2.5 weeks.

Scotland has a distillery nearly around every bend. The rivers and lochs feed these processes creating flavors of whisky with a distinct difference to each one. All of which are undeniably worthy of attention. And that’s how each part of this experience has felt to me.

The moment the 6 of us arrived, piled into our van and immediately headed to the north and to then Skye, we created an adventure that bares its own “flavor”. Those initial days were like a harsh, flavorful, smoky whisky. A dark blend of highland and Islay.

After our beloved ginger left us the remaining 5 visited an English barracks, visited Edinburgh Castle, explored Inverness in depth, found the northwest sea, and they got to know a family I’ve grown close to from the Alness congregation. That week bore the flavor of a stout highland whisky fueled by one of its many lochs hidden within a secret glen.

And then it was just 2. Chandler and I had decided early on we would somehow camp. I’m going to make a post about that experience in depth later, but this last week was layered with a complex set of moving around and flying by the seat of our pants that to be completely honest I’d only have been able to do with him. We have had several travel adventures together over the last near 8 years and though at times polar opposites, we are able to roll the dice and come out the other side having experiences better than if they’d been planned with strategic purpose. We stayed a night in Inverness, walked the dark streets and found a pub where he had fish & chips and his nightly Tennents. We then hiked out and into the western highlands stayed in a bothy, read an Agatha Christie novel by firelight and drank Irish whisky of all things. Spent the night with the Slupeks (family from Alness) and drove out to Glencoe ending that day at a pub with meat pies and ale. After checking into the cottage, where I’ll spend the rest of my time here, we took time exploring the surrounding forests, towns, and castle ruins. But more importantly I had the pride of watching one of my favorite people become loved by the congregation I have grown so close to.

Above a pub in Inverness a sign in gold lettering says: ”Friendship is like whisky, the older the better. Too much of anything is bad, but too much of a good whisky is never enough.” This last week has been like drinking a smooth Speyside with notes of various flavors that you can’t really articulate but know you love when they’re combined all together. Sometimes it’s exactly what you expected and other times it catches you off guard with the depth of flavor. But then…those quiet moments where Chandler and I’d be driving in silence, taking it all in. Or sitting at the cottage just watching tv laughing about the day piling tons of cheese and meat on crackers. That’s a Tennents. Just a crisp, clean, reliable Scottish beer.

We are fortunate to have the ability to virtually go anywhere in the world and find people who will relate to us because of our faith. And sometimes we find people in that process who we become close to. And sometimes you end up in Oklahoma and find your brother. And even though you irritate him to his wits end, he will still gladly drink a full glass of beer because you aren’t man enough to drink it all despite he too already being full. 🥃