Highland Games

I had a wonderful day yesterday.  Nathan and the Triads (Esther, Aaron and Levi) spent the night Friday, and after breakfast and a leisurely morning, I took them to the Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point south of Salt Lake.

Nathan was pretty sure this was Levi's first Highland Games, though Levi (and I) was pretty sure he'd been at least once.  Regardless, it had been a while since we had been.

We used to go more regularly years ago.  We first started taking the kids when we lived in Vancouver.  I didn't realize then how different the games were in Canada vs. the United States.  Nor did I realize that we were fortunate enough to have one of the best pipe bands in the world - that of Simon Fraser University - in our back yard.

Me with Sarah, Adam and Hannah at the Highland Games in Coquitlam, B.C. in 1993.  I was a bit pudgier then.

We attended our first Games here in Salt Lake back in 1997, when it was held up at Fort Douglas, near the University of Utah.  One might ask, "Why the interest?"  Well, my former wife is half-Scottish, and I have always had a thing for Scotland.  I'm quite sure I have some Scottish ancestors way back there on the family tree, before their descendants migrated into the hills and hollers of the Appalachian Mountains from western Pennsylvania down to the upcountry of South Carolina.  But, regardless of my blood ancestors, I have more recently come to believe that I was a highlander in a previous lifetime.  

The kids at the Highland Games in 2004:  Nathan, Hannah, Rachel, Esther and Aaron

Be that as it may, let's just say I've had an affinity for things Scottish as long as I can remember (almost as long as I've known that I'm gay).  So, I've enjoyed going to the Highland Games over the years, even though they can be a wee bit weird at times.  I remember, for example, going in 1998 to the games in Longmont, Colorado and meeting up with one of Canada's premier pipers.  He couldn't believe the Renaissance-Faire-style clothing that many people were wearing, as well as the multitude of breaches of protocol regarding traditional Scottish dress.  "I swear I saw a guy walking around with a turkey on his head," I remember him saying.  It was an affront to this stolid Canadian's dignity.

He would have smiled to hear and see some of what we saw yesterday at Salt Lake's Games.  The claymores dangling off of would-be Bravehearts.  The various modes of "Scottish dress."  The plethora of examples of 21st century sedentary living that would have been completely foreign to highlanders of old.

Of course, all of these people were, I imagine, trying to connect with something inside of them that says, "Home."  I don't begrudge them that.  But it can get amusing at times.  For example, as we were leaving the grounds, we passed a young couple pushing a stroller, and I heard the guy say, "I am off in search of a genuine Scottish corn dog."  I kid you not.  I was also amused that the longest line - by far - on the grounds was for the "homemade" root beer.  Utahns love their home-made root beer, Guinness being off limits to most of them.

The line for the root beer stand.

But I digress.

I had a great time with the kids.  Soon after we arrived, Nathan split off with Esther, while I took Levi and Aaron.  After getting their faces painted (Levi got the Scottish flag, while Aaron requested a pizza; fair enough - he's Russian), we headed over to a great new addition to the children's section of the grounds:  some re-enactors who let kids don armor, sword (or in Levi's case, an ax) and shield and go after a guy.  The boys had a blast. 

Aaron, looking a bit more like one of Genghis Khan's soldiers (perhaps one of his ancestors) than a Highlander.

Nathan and Esther had fun, too.  Nathan sort of kind of had his face painted a la Braveheart, and Esther was supposed to get a Canadian flag, but it ended up looking like the Swiss flag.  The face painter didn't know what the Canadian flag looked like.  Sigh.

Nathan and Esther

We ate our lunch in the stands while waiting for and watching the opening ceremonies, which featured the massed bands and the "gathering of the clans."

Later, Levi, Aaron and me watched some Irish dancers from Cache Valley (where Mark worked and lived when he first came to Utah).  Levi said this was his favorite thing of the day.  It was fun to watch these energetic women dance, and we also enjoyed the musical interludes performed by the husband and son of one of the dancers.  

After about three hours, the kids had had enough.  A strong north wind had arrived, cooling temperatures and making it a bit uncomfortable for some of them.  So we headed home, having enjoyed our outing.  Once back home, we paused for pictures before the kids washed off all their face paint.  The Triads also posed with the wooden swords I bought for them (3 for $10, such a deal).

It was, quite simply, a wonderful day (in contrast to last week's sorely trying day).  It was fun, after we arrived home, to sit in the office and watch Aaron wend his way around the back yard, waving his sword back and forth.  He was obviously in some make-believe land ... which I thought was fantastically wonderful.  Later, Esther and Nathan walked down to the local Fresh Market to buy some licorice and other bulk candy - which they made a point to eat before they went back to their mom's house.

Part of what made the day wonderful was how at home the kids are obviously starting to feel here.  It was a very good day.

The kids divvying up the candy in the kitchen