Monday, October 22, 2012

View from the tent, visitors and glorious moment


- View from the tent at the 40th Annual Stone Mountain Highland Games.  I had a great vantage point for people watching both days.  I forgot my camera, so the one on my phone sufficed.  In this shot, I was trying to capture that guy on the right - all done up in blue spandex.  A walking flag of Scotland.  :)  Click to enlarge.

- The man on the right presented me with a spiral bound notebook filled with his genealogical information he had written out and asked if it looked right to me.  I asked him to come back in 15 minutes, when my beloved friend Larry (on the left) would be present.  There they are - discussing said notebook.  I knew Larry would know all about it and he did.

- This little guy is the son of the leader of the harp tent, adjacent to ours.  His main focus of the weekend was picking up piles of pine straw and throwing them in the air.  :)  He never stopped moving and we all watched after him, along with his dad and various others.  I loved it when his mom would collect him to sing the ABC song into the microphone while she plucked harp strings in accompaniment.

- On Sunday morning, he had this sign pinned to his back, "If lost, please return to the harp tent" (with phone number) below.  His blue jeaned dad there tried to get him to stand still for a photo of the note, to no avail.

- At the closing ceremonies, a moment that gave me goosebumps.  The pipers on the field raised their pipes slowly and in unison to play "Amazing Grace."  A beautiful moment I'll never forget.  Glorious really.

14 comments:

happygirl said...

Piped Amazing Graze. Haunting. Thanks for sharing your weekend. It looked like your clan had a blast. I participated in the Annual National Oyster Festival and cheered on my favorite shucker. The winners go to Ireland to compete internationally. The little is a cutie. :)

LL Cool Joe said...

Cute set of photos. Amazing Grace is such a classic song. I can just imagine how it sounded. :)

Looks like you had fun. :)

Riot Kitty said...

One day, I am going to invite myself for a visit and come with you! Looks like so much fun!

Chatty Crone said...

I did not go but it looked like a great time. I have heard Amazing Grace played on bagpipes and it was AWESOME.

Elephant's Child said...

That looked like a magical weekend. With, to the best of my knowledge, no ancestory to support it, bagpie music always makes me cry.

Snaggle Tooth said...

I never saw such a blue- dressed clan before-
My Uncle made a genealogy which I can barely understand... Tracing back to the older brother of Sir William Wallace- Good thing for the expert Larry guy there!
Good thing for the Little Scott there in perpetual motion, keeping himself entertained, n you too. Not bad for a phone cam either!
I agree that tune on bagpipes is a tear-jerker. Hope you saw tons of old friends too. Glad you had a good time.

Lynn said...

happygirl -

We did have a nice time. I need to recruit some people to take over in future. I would like to be that person who shows up to help for a couple of hours.

Love the sound of that oyster festival!

Joe -

Amazing Grace always makes me sad, but I love to hear it anyway.

Riot Kitty -

Come for that sometime - I'll put a tartan scarf on you and make you an honorary member for the day. :)

Sandie -

Just imagine a hundred bagpipes playing at once - it's awesome.

The Elephant's Child -

It was magical - I'm still a little tired from it though. :)

Snaggle -

Wow - a Wallace. They have a huge Clan tent. There were some visitors to our tent from Cape Cod and I opened my mouth to tell them I have a friend from Cape Cod, but then decided the explanation would be too convoluted.

G. B. Miller said...

Sounds like it exceeded expectations again, which is always a good thing.

"Amazing Grace" done right, no matter what the instrument, definitely moves me to tears.

Leonora said...

I have no Scottish ancestors, but I went to a Highland Games festival once and absolutely loved it. I get the goosebumps when the pipers play too! (Shouldn't everyone?)
LOVE the sign on the little boy's back. What a cutie.

Shionge said...

What an interesting festival and a wonderful weekend too.

That boy is so cute :D Now all parents should just stick a note so they won't get lost in the malls LOL !

Lynn said...

G -

Same here.

Leonora -

It's the next best thing to being on Scottish soil for me.

Shionge -

If only the malls were as safe as the spot the Highland games are held on. And he was in their view all the time, the note was a "just in case" since he moves so fast. :)

Sara said...

I adore Amazing Grace. It's one of those songs that stops you in your tracks however it's played or sung. That would have been one of my favorite moments.

How many years have you gone to these games. Seems to me you've written about them frequently.

The little boy was darling. I love the picture with the sign on his back. It's hard to believe there are still places where children can be free and safe. It pleased to know everyone watched out for him!

Lynn said...

Sara -

I go once a year - and yes, I blog about it once a year. :)

The park is gated and then you have to pay to get into this venue, so it filters out unsavory characters. But still - he was protected by many adult eyes. Loved that note though - we got a kick out of it.

Jannie Funster said...

Tears in my eyes thinking about how that song must've sounded.

I had one who was very very hard to get to stand still for the camera too at that age. And at THIS age. :)

xoox