Trying to make the world smile - a photo on Flickriver

On Saturday evening as a few people watched Eurovision, Neil and I finished erecting Gordon the Black Stag on the rocky outcrop in Kentra Bay and were starting to survey the clouds looking for any hint of much anticipated Northern Lights. It was getting pretty dark, when, coming through the gloom, I spotted a bicycle coming our way with no lights showing. Kentra Bay is an empty and forbidding place to a lone traveller, but no bother, I was glad to see it was Leon, on his way home. He went "Woah!" when he spotted the 7 foot tall stag behind us, and then told us how he had dropped into his grandmother's after swimming in the sea at Ardtoe. He is such a friendly, polite and chatty type that somehow he ended up telling us proudly about his work on the fishfarm at Laga Bay and his holidays, and saving to travel in Croatia and Morocco, and next he was going further afield to Bolivia. Bolivia! That surprised me. Who would think a young lad (just 22) would take off from tiny Acharacle (population 200) on his own to darkest South America to explore? I must admit I've always been impressed by Leon, a local product of Acharacle who stays (lives) just a few doors away from me. He was always fun, smiley, ready for a craic, whether by the pool table in the Loch Shiel Hotel bar, or Fearchar's bar shed, or on the annual booze cruise up Loch Shiel to the Glenfinnan Highland Games. Yes, I often thought, if I hadn't retired and was still working, he would be exactly the sort of young man I would hope to recruit. Bright, polite, popular, respectful, the perfect young Highlander. On the way home I decided I might give him £500 to help him enjoy his adventures in South America. Or was that a silly idea?

As the cloud grew thicker it became much darker and we bade goodnight to Leon, to let him get cycling on the single tracked road over the empty moor to Acharacle.

We would never have guessed that we might have been the last people outside of work he spoke to, because next morning he took his own life. The news utterly floored us. How could it possibly be true? We had absolutely no inkling his life was due to end in a matter of hours. Now everyone is desperately looking for answers to the question, "Why?" It's probably a question we will never know the answer to. What sort of world has been created that makes young men do this, when one would hope there is so much to live for. We all pray he has gone to a better place.

I wanted my stag on the hill to put a smile on people's faces. But it seems this world is a very unhappy place for some. I hope Gordon is left peacefully on his hillock, for a very long time, because he will always remind me of Leon

There's a GoFundMe page if anyone is feeling charitable for a young soul lost too soon: www.gofundme.com/f/leon-john?modal=donations&tab=all

Taken in: UK / Scotland / Kentra (show map)

Taken on: May 13, 2024

Tags:

leon

john

acharacle

Ardnamurchan

Kentra Bay

leonjohnfindlay

gordonthestag

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Groups appears in: • Scotland • Scotland - the Land and the Sea more » • Scotland in Picture • Highlands and Islands of Scotland • ***Flickr Global • ` FLICKR ´ • flickr (unofficial) • Today's Flickr • Make me smile! :-) (closed for a while) « less

Camera: Nikon D750, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, 32mm, ISO 1600 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	24.0-120.0 mm f/4.0
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length:	32mm
ISO:	1600
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.2 (Windows)
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