Camelon

We've spent these first few days in Scotland living with Joe's advisor, Mike Purcell. Fr. Purcell lives in a home outside of Edinburgh in Camelon (near/in Falkirk). It's a nice little town and we have enjoyed it a lot. The other evening Fr. Purcell suggested a nice walk for us to take to the Falkirk Wheel, a significant landmark and engineering feat close to his home. It was a beautiful evening for a walk and we were able to time it just right for some great views:

The Falkirk Wheel was constructed to connect two canals in order to transfer barges from one canal to the other. It uses water displacement and, they say, takes the same amount of energy to move the barges as it does to boil 8 kettles of water.

You can actually take short tours or trips on a passenger barge to experience the lift in action. You can also take whole week trips and slowly move down the canal to Edinburgh and/or Glasgow. We met 4 gentlemen who take a yearly holiday to tour barges and canals and who had just completed a one week trip. They loved it.

Here's the view from near the Antonine Wall just behind one of the canals. It was a really beautiful night.

We’ve also really enjoyed Fr. Purcell. He is a really nice man and we’ve had some great conversations. Not to mention his outstanding hospitality. I hope we can return the kindness sometime. Fr. Purcell has two sweet Bearded Collies: Henry and Wesley: (this is Wesley)

Henry is about 13 years old and the most mellow dog you ever encountered. I’m not sure he even realizes we are here. Wesley is 1 year old and he knows we are here. He is so friendly and loves to be right in the thick of things. He is a sweet dog and we’ve actually grown quite fond of him (but no worries, our future children will still only ever have an imaginary dog).