Comments about Scotland

[Panache]

I wear a kilt at least half of the time. By doing such one does tend to invite a few questions such as:

"Are you Scottish?"

"What do you wear under the kilt?"

"What clan are you?"

(see my answers to these below)

But the other thing about wearing a kilt is that people often come up to you to tell you of their own travels and experiences in Scotland. Something I thought that the native Scots on the forum might appreciate is how the beauty of your country lasts in the memories of those that visit there. I have had people go on and on at length telling me about their visit to this place or that. It doesn't seem to matter if was last summer or decades ago, Scotland seems to always be a very vibrant memory to these individuals.

When I have asked about the Scottish people I have only heard about how pleasant everyone was (so much for the image of the dour Scot!). The time these people spent in your land was a special one that they hold dear and want to share.

The only thing that ever comes up that is negative is the weather. I have been cautioned against visiting in the rainy season, which seems to be from September to June (with July sometimes being a bit dodgy).

Something I thought I would just share.

Cheers

Jamie




"No, but by blood alcohol content I'm a bit scotch"

Me: "Can you keep a secret?"
Them: "Yes"
Me: "So can I"

"Clan Inebriated"

[mairead]

LOL Jamie. The weather. Yes it can be a bit awful, but the one thing we have going for us is that we have no great extremes of weather here, so while it might get a bit wet, it is quite 'safe' weather.

[Maitland]

The bad weather can add something to Scotland as well. On a damp Autumn morning as the mists sit around Stirling rising in the distance as if in mid air sits Stirling Castle.

I will try to get down one morning early to get a photograph.

The other thing about the weather is the fact that it keeps tourists away. I am not being rude here at all but can you imagine a constantly warm and dry Scotland. Our Glens and Lochs would be teeming with people and thats NOT what visiting Scotland is about.

In the summer months if you visit Loch Katrine it can be a bit of a free for all on your walk around the Loch, you tend to dodge bicycles whizzing by, children playing and the constant click click of camera shutters. Visit in the winter months and you have a totally different experience. Snow on the hills, the colors of Autumn and Winter and not a soul about and no noise. An amazing time to soak in the atmosphere, your surroundings and listen to your ancestors whispering through the hills. One of my favourite times to walk the Loch.

M...

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Maitland

The bad weather can add something to Scotland as well. On a damp Autumn morning as the mists sit around Stirling rising in the distance as if in mid air sits Stirling Castle.

Stirling Castle floating on the mist, you say?

I took that one as I tramped from Bridge of Allan to Stirling Uni, the morning we went to Lanark for the Wallace Homecoming.

An amazing time to soak in the atmosphere, your surroundings and listen to your ancestors whispering through the hills. One of my favourite times to walk the Loch.

Now that is cruel and unusual punishment.

Jamie, it's amazing, because I've visited places where I can hear something, but I cannot make out exactly what it is. And I will look at something and it is if there is something else there to be seen, yet I couldn't manage to focus on it to see what it really is.

It's like the image above. The days I would walk to the McRobert Centre to catch the bus to Sauchie, I could look to my right to see Stirling Castle, while ahead of me was the Wallace Monument. To be strolling along in a area with so much history behind it was awe-inspiring.

I look forward to hearing what your own thoughts are, when you return from your trip to Alba.

[MiLadyCeilidh]

Such a beautiful photo Mike. My friend David who lives in Glasgow, says August is a fine month to visit.

[Maitland]

Mike

That is a lovely photograph but if you get up early enough and stand on the A9 (Hard Shoulder of course) North of the Castle, you will see nothing but the Castle suspended in the air. You will see no trees, no houses, no fields, merely the castle as if sitting on a bed of clouds, quite spectacular.

Mike it was not my intention to use the post as punishment but you will have to get over sooner rather than later.

M...

[Dirk Skene]

Originally Posted by Panache

......."Are you Scottish?".......

That question is slightly irritating to me. I want to blert out "What difference does it make Bozo?" But I never do. I just say it is my "Yes, it is in my heritage."

[mairead]

I lived high up on the Southern Uplands before moving here, and when I looked out of my window, I very often could not see the village below me for mist which hung low over it. Then, as the sun came out and warmed the air, the little cottages in the village slowly began to appear as the mist vanished. It really was like something out of Brigadoon.
On occasion it was low cloud which obscured the view of the village and from my hilltop residence, I could look down on the low cloud and it seemed as if I was living somewhere up in the sky, with all the cloud below me. Magical it was.

[Panache]

Originally Posted by Mike

...I look forward to hearing what your own thoughts are, when you return from your trip to Alba.

Heres to hoping we get to go next summer.

My wife is sending in a request for a certified copy of her birth certificate to use for her application for a passport. She should have no problem having one by next summer.

I went over to my folks home and retrieved my certifified copy of my birth certificate. To my shock the County Recorder employee had come by the hospital room before my parents had decided on a name. So my birth certificate lacks either a first or middle name. Friday I am going to have my parents fill out a supplemental form (that they should have done 29 years ago) and submit it to the State of California's Office of Records (or whatever the official name is) that they have chosen a name for me! Apparently this could take up to HALF A YEAR to process and send me a certified copy of my certificate! Then I can apply for a passport!

sigh

I find it amusing though that if I ever wanted to change my legal name this is the time to do it.

Cheers

Jamie

[Mike]

Bear in mind that most of those waiting times are worst case scenarios. I suppose it's best they prepare you for the worst, but my passport didn't take very long at all. It was something like 2-3 weeks to have it in hand.

By the same token, keep moving forward so you don't get caught out.