That time in Stonehaven

Trail magic? Or is a deep fried Mars Bar sometimes just a deep fried Mars Bar?

I first learned of the term “trail magic” from Wild, Cheryl Strayed’s memoir of a much more arduous journey than I’ve ever undertaken. According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, trail magic can be “finding what you need most when you least expect it.” As a longtime reader of L.M. Montgomery, I’ve called it providence, that faith-based mystery to whom Marilla Cuthbert attributed the arrival of Anne Shirley in Green Gables.

Somewhere between Stonehaven and Dunottar Castle in Scotland.

I mentioned in my last post that my earliest house sits came when I needed them but wasn’t seeking them, a practical example of trail magic, or whatever you want to call it. Often, though, these lucky synchronicities occur in the form of people, like the woman I met in Stonehaven, Scotland, in the summer of 2018.