My plaid addiction just got worse. – McMurtry Creative Media

Newell took me to the Scottish festival and Highland games today in Lehi, Utah.

All that gorgeous plaid in one place. Hi, my name is Pam and I am a plaidaholic. I love men in kilts, I mean I seriously adore them. I hope when I die, I am assigned to the Highlands in heaven and that the angels there play bagpipes and drums.

Even on one of the most momentous days in my life, I couldn’t stay away from the plaid.

I loved the Highland games and all of the clan displays. My clans include the Stuarts (Stewarts), Holladays, Fifes and others. Since I have collected tartans and decorated for Christmas with Royal Stewart as long as I can remember, it made sense when I found out they were my relatives. And this unfortunate plaid addiction may be encoded in my DNA. No cure; I might as well enjoy it.

St. Andrew’s Cross, the national flag of Scotland. No, I didn’t name my son Andrew for the Patron Saint of Scotland, but I would have if I had know then. And my daughter Heather, a story from ElectricScotland.com tells how Heather came to grow abundantly on the hills of Scotland:

http://www.electricscotland.com/gardening/heather.htm

“…Disappointed with the oak, the honeysuckle and the rose, God turned away. At length, He came across a small, low lying, green shrub with a flower of tiny petals -some purple and some white. It was a heather.

God asked the heather the same question that He’d asked the others. “Will you go and grow upon the hillsides to make them more beautiful?”

The heather thought about the poor soil, the wind and the rain – and wasn’t very sure that she could do a good job. But turning to God she replied that if he wanted her to do it, she would certainly give it a try.

God was very pleased.

He was so pleased in fact that he decided to give the heather some gifts as a reward for her willingness to do as he had asked the oak tree – the bark of the heather is the strongest of any tree or shrub in the whole world.

Next he gave her the fragrance of the honeysuckle – a fragrance which is frequently used to gently perfume soaps and potpourris.

Finally he gave her the sweetness of the rose – so much so that heather is one of the bees favourite flowers. And to this day, heather is renowned especially for these three God-given gifts.”

The state flag of Alabama, where son Timothy is serving an LDS mission. My next project when he returns home is helping him find a nice young woman and convincing them they need to have the men in their wedding in kilts. Ahhh.