Bill and John's Excellent Adventure: Last Days on Orkney or Bill gets Rehabilitated....

This is the first day of real Scottish weather. The hard, cold rain mixed with the wind off the water is brutal. I had to walk along the pier to secure our ferry reservation for tomorrow. I came back, Bill was up reading and we took off to breakfast. I could still feel he was not 100% himself. Knowing how the weather changes here, I mention to Bill let's wait a few hours before going out.

By 12 o'clock the weather got better, we take off into town. I wanted to get Bill his stones tee shirt and head to the Orkney museum where they have stones on display. I drove to Kirkwell and spent a delightful hour in the museum. We saw some wonderful stones from the Pict's era. The Maiden Stone I poster about earlier in the trip was done by the same group of people. I like the way they carve symbols into the stone telling a story. I hope the photos below show their work well. At the museum, we meet some people we talked to at the bar. I like meeting the same people in a different spot on the tourist trail, it has a comforting feel to it knowing someone you say hello to again.

We leave the museum walk down the main street of shops. I am determine to find Bill a tee shirt with stones. Bill is not optimistic. Bill really does not know me, a good friend of mine once described me as having the mind like a steel trap once it gets around something it does not let go. The first few stores we come up empty. I reach a store that has silly tee shirts in the window. Bill decided to wait outside. Lucky for me the young girl is enthusiastic and really looks and keeps searching for a Stones tee shirt. When lo and behold she pulls one out, yellow tee shirt with the Stones of Orkney in color with the sun setting on them. I pray it is a large and a large it is. She seems to get a laugh out of my animated response to finding this simple tee shirt. Bill is across the street looking at the people walk by, when I all call him over. The happy smile on his face and his words, "You really are the Handleizer."

I have one more thing in my bag of tricks for Bill. So I say how about we head back. He agrees. I ask Bill, after seeing the Stones in the museum and getting his tee shirt did he feel like he got his fix. He said, "a tepid one." I knew this was going to be a tough case to rehabilitate but I have cracked tougher cases than Bill in my business. I knew I had one more play. We drive toward home as Bill mentions he is looking forward to relaxing. I made a sharp right turn on our way home. Bill is wondering where we are going. I said, just trust, Bill. He begins to notice the Stones of Stenness coming up. I pull the car off the road into a section, open the windows and we sit there for fifteen minutes just enjoying the view. Due to the bad weather, few people are even out. Bill enjoys the view and mentions how great they look standing impervious to the world around them. We drive further down the road and do then same thing at The Rings of Bodgar. The wind coming in the car, the quiet surroundings, Bill absorbing the last remnants of a lifelong dream, I felt a growing satisfaction that Bill would now be ok.....