- That's the flag of Scotland there, along with our American flag at the
Stone Mountain Highland Games, held this past weekend, at which we celebrate our Scottish heritage. This was a massed pipe and drum band at the opening ceremonies on Saturday and there were about three times more pipers and drummers than you can see here.
- This is my clan's tent, along with the back of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus there, posing with an excited fan. (Click to enlarge.) Wish I had gotten the photo from the front. The kilted Santa was handing out candy canes. That's my Christmas tablecloth from home on the table with our clan tartan on top.
- Here we are - walking to get in line for the Clan March onto the parade field on Sunday, where awards were given for the best tent, and to the winners of the kilted race.
- The father and son in front of us (while listening to speeches and awards) are from different clans (the son to his right is adopted.) I loved that McTavish the Elder hauls around his own ale mug on his belt. And the Younger told me that his dad took him in at age 15, because he had no home. There was clearly a lot of love between them.
I love the pageantry, and seeing once-a-year friends. The best story of the weekend: a young woman came to our tent and told a remarkable story. Eight years ago, someone at our tent had helped her sort out the derivation of her family birth name (she was adopted), which lead to her finding her birth father, who she had never met. He lives in the Atlanta area, too, and they are close now. Just lovely.
11 comments:
Hi Lynn - it's great that you do get to celebrate every year .. and you've highlighted two goodies here .. McTavish sounds a good man adopting his son .. I love the elder's kilt design.
Also how wonderful you heard a happy ending to a story line .. re birth father and daughter .. lovely ..
Cheers Hilary
That sounds like a lot of fun! We are part Scots too.
My mum is from Scotland, so I love tartan! Fun shots.
We have a highland games here in the city each year and it's so fun. I love the pipes! My Mom used to love to come because the pipes always touched her. Looks like such a great weekend, Lynn!
Looks like you had fun there! I will have to try to check it out next year.
I love the pipers. As children we went to town every Saturday night with our Nana to watch the pipers play their bagpipes as they marched along the main street. Very moving. :)
I can imagine the sound of that large pipe and drum band! I am not Scottish at all, but I still love Highland festivals. They make me wish I could claim a bit of ancestry there : )
Do any of the women wear the tartan kilts? It looks like such a grand event and I bet you get chills just being there.
What a great event!!
That last part gave me shivers (in a good way). It's so nice you have this connection to your past, present and future.
As always, I loved the pictures and the stories you shared in this post, like about the father and son.
Lynn...one of the things I admire about you is that you take the time to learn people's stories. You get to know them,even if they're strangers. That's a gift:~)
Those are wonderful stories of family love. Chosen family, whether blood relations or not, are the best family.
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