Wednesday 30 October 2024--Check out of the hotel and catch the bus to the airport. There are no disruptions on our return flight, and we have time to get a bite at Keflavík before boarding for Boston. The North Atlantic is veiled by cloud, but Greenland cleaves through the cover like an icy wedge, and we have the usual spectacular views of that strange land.

I'd planned to stay at Ron's house tonight and drive home tomorrow, but we're going to take the commuter train into Boston tomorrow to visit Bobby at Brigham & Women's, so I'll stay at Ron's again tomorrow. As always, returning from a trip overseas means coming back to reality. Reality feels a little more grim than usual this year.

Later--I wasn't sure I would post a journal for this trip--in fact, there were times during the trip itself when I was sure I wouldn't. There were too many days I didn't do very much, and didn't take many photos. As time passed, I found myself less and less inclined to carry my camera around, and more to depend on my cheap Android phone. The last photo in my camera was of Beauly Priory, on the 13th; everything after that was the phone, which takes passable photos in good light, but has its limitations. It's all here, obviously. Whether it's really worthwhile is a fair question. Maybe I'm just documenting my own decline. I've tried, at least, to make the less interesting days easy to gloss over quickly.

On Tuesday, November 5, the voters of America chose to return the Bringer of Chaos to the presidency. This is, to me, inexplicable and disheartening. I would like to see my country become a more thoughtful and empathetic place, supporting its citizens in the way the more forward-thinking nations of Europe do. If we ever get there, I will not live long enough to see it. We've taken a huge step backward.

In the dark early morning hours of November 7, Bobby left this world behind. He was 75. I'm grateful we got to see him after we got back from Scotland, and more so that I got to spend time with him in Dingle the past two springs. He had many friends, and will be badly missed.