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A wee bit o’ Scottish fun
June 7th, 2008 by witherow
Yep, time for another grand adventure! I went with Christy and guide dog Reba to the Greenville Scottish Games, an annual outdoor festival held at Furman University, which has a tradition of being 1) always a great experience and 2) always in the middle of an extreme heat wave.
I came prepared for the festival. Not only did I practically take a bath in SPF 50 sunblock, I’m wearing a shirt with a Claddagh [pronounced clah-dah], though it’s technically an Irish symbol. The two hands represent friendship, the heart they’re holding represents love, and the crown on top represents loyalty … or at least that’s what About.com says
Others dressed up a little more for the occasion. There’s no place better than the Scottish festival to see hundreds of otherwise normal men wearing knee socks and kilts. I think this guy was part of some sort of parade or something, since he’s holding a flag of what I assume is some specific Scottish region or clan.
Wow, I feel like I’ve just stepped into a production of MacBeth. Notice this guy’s huge sword slung across his back. Yeah, it was pretty awesome.
One of my favorite parts of the festival is visiting the many specialty vendors. I purchased cool Celtic knot earrings and Christy got a Celtic mood ring. There were also kilt accessories, bagpipe pieces (apparently you have to assemble your own), swords, shortbread, flasks and bumper stickers that said things like Great Scot! We also found custom-made dog collars in the tartan patterns of hundreds of different counties and regions of Scotland. They even had some Irish counties, and we managed to find the pattern for Donegal, where my grandmother grew up (yep, I’ve got authentic Irish in me). I was going to get one for one of her toy poodles, but then I discovered they cost 24 bucks a pop. So sorry, Hershey, the thought will have to count.
Oh, did we mention the temperature outside was pushing a hundred degrees? This is why I took very few pics of me and Christy. Stops to stand in front of this oversized fan basically kept us alive. I’m soooo glad I wasn’t wearing a woolen kilt!
Then it was time to eat. Among other things, this stand is advertising (in the small print) “Haggis Pockets.” Mmmm …
So yeah, pretty much Christy got a chili dog and I got some ice cream—the kind that’s made of tiny dots. Christy insisted on my having a new (safe, American) food experience (she and her sister were also the ones who convinced me to eat the deep-fried Oreos a few weeks ago). The dots tasted great, but the only real difference I could tell between it and regular ice cream was the texture.
While we were eating and then watching a program, a dude walked by wearing a kilt and carrying an electric guitar! Alas, my camera was in my bag, and I missed what would have been the perfect cover photo for my dissertation. (As some of you may know, I am currently compiling information for a dissertation titled “People Are Weird.” At the moment I have more material than I know how to work with.) Anywho, the rest of the time, I kept my camera handy, but the electric-guitar-kilt-dude was gone.
I did manage to snap a photo of these kilt-wearing punks, complete with tattoos. It’s not the best picture because I was trying to snap a photo without them knowing I was doing it.
This very friendly Celtic warrior let us take his picture, however. He said he goes to Christy’s church. So I guess the warrior get-up is only for special occasions?
Christy and I found a shady spot and watched the border collie competitions. Using a series of whistle commands, the shepherd gets his highly-trained dog to herd a small group of sheep through a series of gates and into a pen. It was pretty amazing to watch. Christy and I felt really bad for this one guy whose dog was doing well until he was trying to get the sheep into a second pen. The dog lost control, one of the sheep panicked and ran into a fence. We think the sheep was okay, but he may have damaged part of the sheep pen.
Reba: “Mom, why can’t I chase the sheep too? That’s it. I’m switching jobs, I mean it.”
Oh, and of course, here are the Highland Games, which consist mostly of giant men in muscle shirts and kilts throwing heavy stuff. I love culture!
Then, after a stop to a nice, American Chick-fil-a and PetCo (where Christy and I decided we wanted one of everything, even the snakes), we headed home, possibly a little dehydrated and sunburned, but feeling very culturally enriched … we think.
Posted in Hijinks, People Are Weird | | | 3 Comments
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on June 7th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Of course! It sounds like you and Christy had a grand time! I thought the swords were the best thing there, and I want one! The bag pipes sound pretty sweet too!
Glad we’re not the only ones experiencing a heat wave. heh. It’s in the nineties here. So you all got culturally enriched, sunburned, and gained a new appreciation for air conditioning. I’m so glad you all had so much fun!
on June 8th, 2008 at 8:26 am
here at the beach, it’s 105 degrees. and according to science, the humidity should be causing it to rain in all directions. my hair is about the size of a mutant pomeranian . . .
i’m going to get you a souvenir.
we found a really big frog last night, christened it kermit, and i would have kept if for you except 1) it was very slimy and very jumpy and i didn’t have the energy to keeping running after it and washing my hands and 2) i don’t think the gerbils would like sharing the space.
guess i’ll have to find something else . . . <>
on June 10th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I’ve always thought it would be interesting to go to that event. Thanks for giving such an interesting description of it. Maybe next year it won’t be so hot, and maybe I’ll go.