Viewpoint Voices with U3A at Palnackie

An open-minded and enthusiastic group from the U3A joined Anna Johnson from National Scenic Areas, Clare Rodgers from the Scottish Book Trust, and me, at the Millenium Viewpoint in Palnackie a few days ago.  The gorse blazed, the birds sang.  We talked about the history of Palnackie, its smuggling, its industry, its inhabitants.  Then we perched on benches, and wrote, silently, furiously, for nearly ten minutes.  Great concentration.  Then all eleven of us repaired to Palnackie's cafe, where...

...we drank tea (only one excitable spillage) while playing wordgames of the kind designed to encourage poets to steal good ideas.  Then we began work on our Palnackie cinquains.
I could see this group was forging ahead and full of ideas, so I'm really looking forward to our next meeting in a month, when we get into editing our cinquains, do a short 'reading-your-work-aloud' workshop, and then make a recording of all this endeavour to capture the essence of a beautiful, particular place in the East Stewartry National Scenic Area.