The Scotland trip takes on new meaning

11:14 | 8ºC, blue sky with 30% cloud, light breeze, dry.

Back home after two weeks away; this will be my first day in Devon since 18th March. It is very good to be home and to have a day spread out before me that requires no planning or thought – or driving. The washing machine is on for the second time since arriving home. I have my second cappuccino with me and am feeling immensely relaxed. Returning to work tomorrow is the one thing I need to keep on the very periphery of my mind, as that is a prospect too awful to think about at a time like this.

During the night – and not at my instigation – it suddenly became apparent to me that I had a great idea for a book; an idea that could not have been further removed from previous thoughts on my first novel. It all came to me in a dream; a dream that was so intense and grounded in reality that it seemed real, as if I was sat wide awake in an armchair rather than asleep in bed. I have to say it was quite a revelation – not something I recall experiencing before – and I even had a title – or at least two thirds of a prospective title.

The Germination of an Idea

Essentially, the Scotland trip acts as a catalyst that brings together various disparate thoughts in my head relating to climate change, the industrial revolution and the briefest epoch in human history. This epoch is likely to be over by the early 22nd century, to be replaced by something very different and potentially very good.

I cannot wait to get started on the book but my employer will get in the way, if only until the end of June. I feel I need to get going now, whilst ideas are buzzing and my memories of being in a relatively unspoilt landscape are still fresh. At this point in time I am not at all sure how I will get started, as to get started now runs the risk of getting into a zone for many hours or even days where I face the stark choice of giving up work, and therefore the ability to pay for accommodation and food, or of losing my thoughts and the thing that is most precious to me: my ability to record things that really matter and to leave a legacy for the future.

And so to bed…

I have decided not to switch the television on today. After two weeks or more without it I just am not interested. Also I am saving a bit of electricity, something I suspect all of us are doing in these difficult times. The time has come for me to worry about getting up for work in the morning, and that is something that is beginning to get me down. This morning I was looking forward to a relaxing day, but I do not think I will have many of them to look forward to for a while.