Humble salutations to you. My name is Gary and I happen to live near a beautiful location called the Whaligoe Steps. My memory is already vague, but I believe it was around 1989 I moved to this scenic location. My interests include the Whaligoe Steps, poetry, music, photography. blogging, mental health, philosophy, walking and film.
I decided to blog about unfolding events right outside my front door as the local infrastructure was evidently inadequate, and nobody in the area could or would assemble a plan to rectify it. By raising awareness on issues arising from the presence of so many people, regarding health and safety concerns plus property damage and vehicular incidents and congestion, impacting local services and individuals alike – talking about it within this forum presented an opportunity for a better understanding and a potential progression toward a resolution.
My first blog entry was on August 15th, titled “Space”, and was a gentle introduction to the situation of the local residential car park here, having to carry the weight of campervans and more cars than it was designed for.
The proverbial straw which broke the camel’s back came when a campervan reversed in an allocated resident’s parking space and accidentally knocked down their outer wall. (Sept. 6th, 2020)
Since starting this blogging website to raise awareness and also share the natural beauty of the area, I’ve met some lovely people and witnessed some developments. Learning has been at the heart of this whole project: Learning about what the Highland Council can do and what they were juggling before addressing infrastructure issues; learning more about the history of Whaligoe Steps; learning about the natural cycle of so much wildlife, and even learning about myself.
(Photo of me with some litter and plastic pollution collected from the pebble shoreline at Whaligoe Steps)
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Running parallel with my investment for this website raising awareness of infrastructure inadequacies, my poetic creativity has been evolving with the support and encouragement of a fabulous community on social media.
Here are some examples where I’ve popped up within the poetry community…
Here’s the link to a beautiful recital of my poem ‘Marzipan Moon’ by Denise for a community known as ‘Read Me Speak Me’: November 3, 2022 – YouTube
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Here is a link to ‘Literary Revelations Publishing House’ Journal where creative talent is showcased and shared, thanks to Gabriela Marie Milton: Literary Revelations Journal – Literary Revelations
(I was privileged to be a featured poet of the week for April 10th, 2023)
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Here is the link to the lovely ‘Present Poetry’ podcast produced and presented by Erynn Crittenden: Poems by Gary Clarke by Present Poetry (spotify.com)
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I’ve been published in several poetry books which is a precious experience and most humbling. Below, are some examples to date…
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On August 26th, 2022, the Highland Council officially confirmed they were investing £90,000 into the residential car park here! With fingers crossed, they have announced their intentions to invest this tourist-related funding within the next five years.
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I mentioned nature and wildlife earlier, so here’s a few shameless photographs from this area which I took since beginning this blogging website…
Thank you so much for taking a moment to read and to look at any part of this website. It is the proverbial labour of love as I add content as and when it feels appropriate and I get the time to do so.
You can find social media presence for ‘Whaligoe Eye’ and myself via the following links…
FACEBOOK: Whaligoe Eye – Whaligoe Eye | Lybster | Facebook
TWITTER: Whaligoe Eye – Whaligoe Eye (@WhaligoeEye) / Twitter
TWITTER: Gary (me) – Gary (BRB) (@floodland08) / Twitter
YOUTUBE: Whaligoe Eye – Whaligoe Eye – YouTube
EMAIL: Whaligoe Eye – WhaligoeEye@gmail.com
