Autumn Rhymes With Bottom to AnElephant’s Delight!

AnElephantCant hide his elation
This morning just makes his heart sing
Although it is Autumn
He gets up off his bottom
And strolls in the sunshine as though it were Spring

Ben Lomond can be seen in the distance
Its heights are all covered in snow
Although 30 miles off
At the head of the loch
It is still a spectacular Munro*

 

AnElephant promenades by the Leven*
The sunshine is bright in his eyes
Scotland in November
He struggles to remember
When he last had so pleasant a surprise

 

Dumbarton Rock towers high with its castle
At the confluence of Leven and Clyde*
This volcanic plug
Has one end like a lug
And the other like AnElephant’s backside

Because it is November in Scotland, the sun is very low in the southern sky, even in late morning.
These pictures were all taken between 10.45 am and noon, and the light is startlingly different depending on the direction of the shot.

*A Munro is a mountain of over 3,000 feet.
This may not sound very big, but Ben Lomond starts at seal level, so is quite jolly impressive.
In the second picture of the blog, the one above this reference, the Ben can be seen midway between the high trees on the left of the shot and the metal structure on the bridge, just above the low tree line and the lowest level of cloud.

*The River Leven is roughly 6 miles long and is popular for trout and salmon fishing.
It runs from Loch Lomond southwards into the River Clyde at Dumbarton Rock, a 240 foot high twin-peaked crag of volcanic basalt.

*DumbartonCastle sits on the site where a settlement was first recorded in the 5^th (Fifth) Century, the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain.
It has spectacular views of the Clyde and to Ben Lomond.

*The River Clyde is perhaps Scotland’s most important river due to its role in the shipbuilding industry.
The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth 2 are among the great ships built here.
It is over 100 miles long, runs through Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, and opens up into a Firth (estuary) with many islands including Bute and Arran.