Of course, if you were visiting Scotland, your list of places to see would resemble mine if it included visiting Loch Ness. If so, you might hope to see one of the Loch’s monsters for yourself. Also, you might think that just visiting the mysterious Loch would be a treat.
At least it was for me.
Only one person was there. “Would you like a ride on my boat to tour the Loch?” he asked.
Minutes later, I was learning why it had been so difficult to verify the existence of the seemingly mythical creatures. “The water is so dark and so deep that sonar is useless,” he said, as we continued around the Loch.
On one side was an abandoned monastery. On another was a very old home that may not have been occupied. “Remember those sights,” said the boat’s captain.
The complete circle took about half an hour. In that time, not even a bream-sized fish broke the surface. Despite having not seen any signs of the Loch Ness monster, I didn’t doubt that I could have seen one. For a moment, I just stared at the unique loch. Unlike the lakes in Virginia, Loch Ness was much too cold to jump into and swim.
“We’ll stop here for a moment,” the captain said. The boat was near the old house. Directly across the Loch was the abandoned monastery. “Look at this,” said the captain.
In his hand was an old Polaroid picture that had been taken from where the boat sat. “Do you see the monastery?” he asked as he pointed out that it was in the same alignment as we were then.
That’s when I studied the picture and noticed the long, thin head of a Loch Ness monster. Its head and neck reminded me of one of the plant-eating dinosaurs I’d seen drawings of.
“Did you take that?” I asked.
In a quiet voice, he answered, “Yes.” And that was over forty years ago. If I were to return, I doubt that anything would have changed.
Including the residents of Loch Ness.