The two most consistent lifesavers in Huntly have been the Huntly Harvest Organic Box Scheme (aka. weekly veggie box) and The Huntly Swimming Pool and Fitness Center. And this week, I have said farewell to both.

The veggie deliveries have been running consistently since June where every Thursday an overflowing brown paper bag of locally grown goods arrive, often with a base of potatoes and onions and heavily layered with a rotation of broad beans, sweet peas, carrots, lettuce, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, broccolini, leeks, beets, courgettes, cucumbers, artichokes, parsnips and coming soon, brussel sprouts and chili peppers. The bag varies, and can be altered if you have preferences (I didn’t care much for lettuce with a yard full of rocket), and with half a dozen eggs, the price tops at £10 per bag. Sign up with Lesley to get in for next year, as the scheme only runs summer through fall.  (HuntlyHarvest@aol.com or 01542 870201) 

Meanwhile, the gym and I have gotten to know each other more than just a weekly encounter. With very little else to do in Huntly after 5 p.m., unless hanging around in the square or wandering around the supermarkets count as ways to span time, I have been frequenting the pool and fitness center, which I was told received a major renovation and update this past winter, and yet still has no area to stretch. With a monthly membership at only £20 for the pool and gym, the gym side had a pretty basic set up with brand new equipment, the gym was rarely busy, and when it was, the room appeared to be a social hub for a whole assortment of people of all ages that I do not see anywhere else in town. As I went at all hours of the day, I would see certain people at certain times, but where they came from or where they went after will be forever a mystery as I’ve frequented almost every business in town, and except for a odd familiar face, the gym people materialized in and out of some sort of black hole of existence in and outside of Huntly.

The pool side is also a bit strange, as there is just one “village” change room and shower hall for both men, women and children. While I mostly went just for the steam room and dry sauna (which you had to call ahead 30 minutes for them to turn on), I must admit I stopped going after school was let out for the summer as the village transformed into a nightmare of screaming children and muddy sneakers. But the staff was always really nice and smiling, with some even learning my name, which never ceased to startle me.

I must admit I was rather worried about getting really unhealthy during this six month stint in Scotland, but on the contrary, I have never lived a healthier lifestyle. Besides the veggie box and gym, there has also been a dog for me to walk and run, and seeing and hearing folk regularly drink themselves blind and smoke themselves dry, I have tempered my own intake of drink and cigarettes. Instead, I have never drank more tea in my life nor eaten so plainly and gone to bed at such reasonable hours. I can’t imagine this lasting once I leave, but it’s been good to know it can be done.