Leaving Scotland

[Terry Dresbach]

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• This topic was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Terry Dresbach.

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[Casey22]

Terry,
If you ever get tired of costume design you could be a writer! This is a beautiful piece, and obviously heartfelt. I so agree about that something really special about Scotland. I am envious of your gift of being able to live there for a time. I have visited twice, and on the last visit (May 2013) I went alone and was able to spend my time in the Highlands. I know it sounds dramatic, but it changed my life. When I need a place to go to in my day, my thoughts return there. You, and I really, are so lucky to have that place in our hearts. Thank you for putting into writing your, and my, feelings about it.

[Terry Dresbach]

I had no idea, before I came.

[Casey22]

Neither did I.

[celticdreamz]

Your post brought tears to my eyes. I was just spent 2 weeks there on vacation and had a terrible time leaving! I miss it so much! So I can’t imagine what you are going through. Scotland is more than just a place…it is sanctuary!

Lady, you have a way with words….Your love letter to Scotland cinched my decision to visit the Highlands for our next holiday, as a genealogist I want to re-connect with my heritage at any rate, ….If I were you I would buy a nest, refuge for the two of you, and your darling dog. This place is obviously home for your soul….. Onward and Upward

[Terry Dresbach]

We are talking about it. But the story leaves and goes off to America, so it is difficult.

[michellibell]

Terry, that was beautifully written. Scotland really has never been on my travel radar, but after reading Outlander, then watching and reading posts like yours, it has to be my next stop 🙂
May I ask a personal question? How many children do you have? Do they live in Southern California? You mentioned returning to your children… otherwise, I’m curious as to why you don’t just stay in Scotland until shooting starts back up?

[Terry Dresbach]

Two teenagers. Our son is at boarding school studying film making. Ron commutes to be with our daughter.
They both come here on holidays, except Christmas, when I come home.

[michellibell]

Terry, beautiful writing and tribute to Scotland. I admit, it has never been on my travel radar, but after reading Outlander, watching the series and posts like yours, it needs to be my next stop.
You mentioned your children… do they live in Southern California? Is that why you need to return there? I’m just wondering why you aren’t just staying in Scotland until next season starts up.

[Nika]

This post indeed feels like a love letter and it’s so genuine and real that makes me want to come to a place where I’ll write something like that to Scotland one day.

Also, thank you for being so generous with all the things Outlander you share with us. So grateful. Makes this whole experience so much better.

All the best from Poland. xoxo

[Katie (@bunnums)]

Wow, your creative talents certainly include the written work, don’t they? What a beautiful love letter. And thank you for sharing of yourself and your journeys over the last year. It has been a fascinating, though-provoking, stunning experience for me.

Katie

[ministerscat]

Your words convey emotion so beautifully. How wonderful to experience something so moving. I cannot wait to visit Scotland one day and find answers to my ancestry and enjoy such a lovely place. Will you be coming back to the house you’ve been in this last year for the next round of work? It sounds absolutely wonderful!

[TnLass]

Terry such a beautiful letter. Thank you for sharing. There are places that touch our souls, this is one for you. I have recently discovered my ancestry leads to Stirling, Scotland, in the lowlands. I can only hope to visit. Outlander gives us a small piece of Scotland every week. Can not put into words how much you and all of the Outlander team is appreciated.

[juliane73]

Terry , that was absolutely beautiful. I had tears in my eyes reading your love letter….. I’m from Germany my husband is American and we live in Italy lol we move very often, and I understand what it is to leave a home you absolutely love. But what a blessing to be able live in such wonderful places.

[Nymerias]

Your love letter to Scotland was beautiful. It was almost like a poem, the way you talked of the seasons. The first time I ever read about Scotland (and it was a wee bit) was in Sydney Sheldon’s Master Of The Game. I read about it in other historical romance novels, the history and beauty alone, the way it is described, makes me long to go. I hope to go one day, when I get over my fear of flying.

[mslez]

Absolutely beautifully written post. You made me long for the beauty of a place I’ve never seen.

[Pogonip]

Terry (if I may address you so familiarly), I enjoyed your essay on Scotland tremendously. I gather you’ll be returning to the same house? That’s such a good idea. In my youth (shortly after the invention of electricity and the horseless carriage) when we slept in an unheated bedroom, we had hot water bottles to snuggle with under the covers. A hot water bottle by the feet helps to warm the entire body. A nightcap, not the beverage kind, but a head covering, is also helpful.

I hope you’ll enjoy your time stateside. The fires in northern California have been horrific this year, as the drought continues.

You have done so much to increase the pleasure for fans this past year. I’ve really enjoyed getting your insider view of costuming such a production, and salute you for putting authenticity over expediency. And for sharing your life and thoughts with us.

[Magda Longoria]

Terry, you are so gifted in many ways and this piece you wrote is like a love letter to Scotland. It was so beautiful and it made me feel such a yearning for a place I’ve never been to before! What a wonderful, amazingly talented woman you are! Thank you for everything! You inspire me in so many ways! Many hugs and much love from this gal in Texas!

[mistressfitzb]

What a lovely tribute to a breathtakingly beautiful country. Even in the drizzle/mizzle, it’s utterly enchanting.Looking forward to our next trip to Glasgow . . . and terribly envious of your luck in getting to stay so long . . . and more than once! Enjoy! And many thanks for sharing.

[Pomona]

Good gods Terry, I showed this to my Hebridean husband and he gawped at me, a Lallans lass from near Stirling and said: but this is “Scotland”! And it is. It is exactly the cold and damp and dreich that seeps into bones and leaves you cooped up and stifling by fires and longing for air, and then chilled and dampened again when you find it. It is Samhain when the veil thins and we think of our ancestors and loved ones and are for that one night, connected. It is that relief that, past the Equinox, the day length outstrips the night and the hope that maybe the weather will turn and one day you look round and somehow, it is Spring. It’s those longed for warm summer days, trips to lochs with picnics and sitting there when the sun dips after midnight, wrapped in blankets round a fire and watching the bats overhead. And then seeing the fields again turn gold, molten with wheat and long shadows around the haybales. You will miss, this time, Yule, that exhalation and teary relief that the Sun did rise (at about 9am!) and from now, the day light will grow in strength. You will miss Hogmanay, when we remember and cast off and bring on the fresh mantle of the new.

But – you will come back. By the Vernal Equinox? And it will all be yours to find and enjoy again. I hope you welcome it with arms as wide as Scotland welcomes you again. You may be away but there will always be a home for you here.

[LillyV]

Oh your post makes me want to live there too ! The winters CAN’T be worse than Chicago ?

[Shanaynay]

Dear Terry…You are an artist with your hands, your mind and your words.
You painted an amazing picture, not just of lovely Scotland, but of your soul and feelings. I felt it.
Thanks for sharing.
I have felt such feelings before myself. I hate leaving most things, even if it is to get to something else wonderful. I, too, love SF and find this time of year there to be precious. A good place indeed for a smoother re-entry.
I hope your journey is safe and at least inspiring. Crazy to think…but January will be here soon.
Cheers and thanks…
Shannon
“Hotricultural Orgasm”…brilliant! 🙂

[myjobeautiful]

You Terry my dear are a born poet. The way in which you described your feelings on leaving Scotland brought love to my heart & a tear to my eye.
Enjoy your family time & remember Scotland will miss you as well.

[fashionedfoxily]

I think some places and people are just meant to be together, like geological soulmates. I remember falling in love with Scotland over 20 yrs ago, before I’d ever seen it, as a teenager. I remember feeling heartsick for it, the way you miss the love of your life you’ve yet to find. The empty, lonesome longing that pulls at your soul and brings you to tears. The more I learned and loved Scotland, the more I was know to proclaim I’d marry a Scotsman someday. Never did I imagine I’d someday marry an American of storied Scots decent. His family of ‘Bates’ proudly brought out their treasured heirloom, the family bible brought over with two brothers from Scotland around the 1680s. The pages of this Scottish bible is marked with fading script of births, deaths and marriages of hundreds of years of family, belonging to my relatively newly acquired surname. I think if you listen to your heart and soul, it will lead you to where you are meant to be, just as in the book, Claire feels she is swimming through time and faces, and somehow chooses subconsciously to land in 1843, to her true love.

[dennasus]

That was such a wonderful loveletter to Scotland and I can only share in the sentiment, even though I only have been there twice during the summer (2009 / 2012) and loved every second of every trip. The landscape is so amazing and the sky and the clouds! I honestly haven’t seen this variety of clouds anywhere else. And if you say “A cloud is just a cloud wherever you are”, you should go to Scotland and see the difference. At least I saw it… 🙂

Terry, enjoy the time at home with your family, pets and friends. The three months will fly by 🙂

[MomToThings1n2]

I told my husband long ago, I was quite certain, I had been born on the wrong continent. Having spent a couple weeks south of you in England during the fall and seeing a flush of the intensity you are talking about, I can only imagine what it is in Scotland. My heart aches for you. It’s hard to leave when your heart finds home.

You painted such an amazing picture for us. Thank you!

[nsrhoads]

Such a beautiful, heartfelt love letter, thank you so much for sharing it with us. I hope your travels are safe and uneventful.

[sandyknc]

There is something special about Scotland. My husband and I visited there 23 years ago, before we read Outlander and before he discovered he had Scottish ancestry. We started talking about going back as soon as we left. Scotland is like a warm embrace…the people and the country. We have been lucky enough to visit many interesting places, but still Scotland calls. We hope to visit next spring or summer.

Terry, I am in North Carolina and really, really hope Outlander films here. Unfortunately, our current NC legislators are reducing film incentives. I assume that will impact whether or not Outlander filming comes to NC.

[Hilary]

Geez, need a caretaker? That spot is gorgeous. 11 months and 12 days before I and my friends check into Brodie Castle near Inverness, and I can hardly wait to get back to the Highlands!

[@gracesmom48]

I found the forum last night and have enjoyed reading it very much. Am terrible with technical stuff, so commented in the wrong place about the Scotland letter. I first fell in love with Scotland through Rosamunde Pilcher’s books and your love letter to Scotland was as beautiful as anything she has ever written about the country. I can’t believe I’ve only read about it for 20 years and never visited. Some day……a long time from now, maybe you can write a book about your experiences Terry because you have a gift.

[Sanderson]

The first time I visited Scotland, I drove from Manchester, England to Edinburgh in a long, meandering trip along the northeastern coast. I will never, ever forget my first stop for gas after I’d crossed the border into Scotland on my way to Eyemouth. I went inside to pay and said something to the clerk and he gave me the biggest smile, saying, “Aye! A yank might ye be!”. Long story short, we ended up being invited to their home for dinner and they joined us for dinner in Eyemouth the next night. We became friends and wrote back and forth for years.

It doesn’t take long for Scotland (the geographic beauty) and the Scots people to find a place in your heart.

What a lovely tribute you wrote to Scotland’s beauty! I envy you having been there long enough to see the seasons change, as well as the fact that you’re going back … sigh.

[Author]

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