When we first visited the Uists things were a little different from how you find them today. For one thing the main road from Lochmaddy to Clachan was single track with passing places, and for another the Taigh Chearsabhagh museum and arts centre had only just opened its doors in a building that forms only part of the current complex. This cache has been placed, at least in part, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the opening of Taigh Chearsabhagh.
The cache you are seeking is placed near or, arguably, within an art installation commissioned by Taigh Chearsabhagh. The artwork was placed beside the Lochmaddy to Clachan road in 2004. In 2006 the road was widened and, in places, diverted from the old road leaving segments of the old road as access to the peat cuttings for local folk. The art installation is beside one of these fragments which can easily be accessed via access points along the road.
The installation is called "Three Indicators of a Notion of Serenity" and it is by the Scottish artist Donald Urquhart. As in our other caches we have given a Gaelic name for the cache name. In the other caches there is an explanation provided - with this one we suggest you ensure you visit the entire installation for an explanation!
The work has had added poignancy since the road was diverted from it. The faster road may be necessary economically but in so doing it has, perhaps, bypassed the forced need to stop that the passing places brought. Changes come, but the sheep and deer still roam beside the road.
The cache is a micro so there is only room for a log sheet - please bring a pen and possibly a pair of tweezers, but more importantly please bring your sense of wonder. The Zen Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says:
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
Please make sure you return the cache exactly as you find it as the Uist weather can be fearsome! Also take care to stay in the road - you don't have to walk across the moor to get the cache.