why the name?

(photo taken by J, on a beach in the outer Hebrides)

This Glimmering World. Why the name?

Well, it's almost a lyric from one of my favourite songs - The Geese of Beverly Road. It's a song that always makes me feel better, even if I'm not entirely sure that it's happy song. It has some happy lyrics and some thoughtful lyrics. It starts off happier than it ends.

But it has some words in it that I love.

"We'll run like we're awesome"
"Hey love, we'll get away with it"
"We'll go from car to car/And whisper in their sleeping ears/We were here, we were here"
"Serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon"

and of course

"We're the heirs to the glimmering world"

It feels like a song that feels ultimately triumphant, though like most National songs, you can't be too sure.

It feels like a song about what makes me happiest. Looking at life, drinking it up, being open to it . And glimmering is a good word. It's not out and out glittering. It might be kind of dim sometimes, but there's something there to see.

I heard it last in the car, as it started to snow, driving back from Loch Lomond into a new city that was shining with Christmas lights. I felt a huge sense of stuff being out there for me to find. A whole country, a street, a block of life. And I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, apart from feeling slightly scared and slightly lucky.