I’ve got my Collithie Grannie to thank for the ‘Danny’ moniker. I stayed with her as a 2-3 year old during the war when my old man signed up to fight for King and Country.
My two older brothers were also farmed out. In their case with an aunt while my mother underwent a series of painful lumber punctures or ‘spinal taps’ at Aberdeen Infirmary.
I must have been all legs and lugs seventy years ago but thankfully I grew into them as I reached my late teens. The ‘legs’ came from my grandad but the ‘lugs’ must have come from a passing elephant.
I can laugh about them now but I took some cruel jibes for my big ears during my schooldays. ‘Taxi wi the doors open’ – was one of the kinder cuts that I remember.
No worries – for another thing my grandad passed on to me was a love of motorcycling. I still have it and as soon as the torrential rain laid off about mid-afternoon today I was kitted out and away on the bike.
The Galloway Hills are an easy reach —
and the forestry isn’t much further —
It’s a wonderful feeling to get out there on two wheels —
The countryside around here reminds me of the hills and forests above Gartly where my mother’s family came from —
And with the Tenere roosting by the back door it was possible to make the most of the fleeting bit of sunshine we had late this afternoon —
Magic 🙂
from-a-distance 