Getting in touch with my Scottish roots

Last April I went to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland with thirty-nine teenagers, and a few chaperones as well. It was an interesting trip, but it made me swear off of trips with teens. Now I love to go to Washington with my freshmen, but these were seniors and they were a tad wild. My favorite part of the trip? Scotland, hands down. I was only in Edinburgh, so I didn't see too much, but it was an amazing city with a mix of the old and the new. The people were also friendly, much more so than Ireland. Ireland was too full of non-Irish, plus they were still reeling from the recently collapsed economic boom, so they didn't really care about pleasing the tourists. I liked London, the locals I met were nice, but it was full of nasty tourists.

Anyway, when I was in Scotland I looked at kilts, one of the students bought one, and I finally decided to buy one. Unfortunately the shops were all closed when I went back to get one. When I got home I decided to order one and did some research. I chose this great company called Stillwater Kilts in Minneapolis. Good prices and fast delivery. The one I bought is the Thrifty kilt for thirty dollars, and I added the belt, sporran, socks and flashes for another forty. You need the sporran since there are no pockets and without it, and the belt, it does look like a skirt.

I also did some research and found that the Forman name is from Northern England and Southern Scotland. The name spelled Foreman means boss. Spelled Forman it means pig herder. I like that as pigs were a very important part of the diet then and pig herders were needed. I like ribs and sausages too. The Forman family came here in the 1700's from England. My other side is Dutch and Scots Irish. McCord, VanBuren (yeah, we're related to Martin VanBuren, one of the least significant Presidents in American history. Old Kinderhook.) and VanDerMark.

So today I finally put the thing on and it felt great. Very liberating. My son-in-law once said he thought that women had it made. When it's hot out they can put on a sundress and get the breeze. I think without the wool socks, and wearing sandals, it would be nice on a summer day. Okay, I know what the big question is; what was I wearing underneath? Sorry, but that's personal. I will say this, if you wear underwear it's a skirt.

I have Dan Hart buy one, and wear it, in the book I'm working on now.