2023 NH Highland Games and Festival!

After having spent a wonderful day and night experiencing how The Other Half Lives, Mrs B and I finished up celebrating our anniversary by heading over to Lincoln and participating in the 48th annual NH Highland Games and Festival.

It was sunny and warm and perfect weather. The upcoming weekend was supposed to be rainy and bleh, so of course everybody had the same idea as us and came on Friday. What a bunch of part timers! If they were really hardcore, they would have come on the weekend and been miserable. I dare say they should all have been ashamed to even SAY they were of scottish descent. Phhhhhffffffttttt!

We arrived around 10am and were immediately sent to the dreaded Lot D for parking. A dirt plowed area where about 100 cars could be squeezed in. Then we all shuttle bus’d to the Loon Mountain Resort where the Games were being held. Let me tell you, there is no better experience than standing in line with 200+ people waiting for four (yes, that’s right, FOUR) shuttle buses, while those other 200+ parasites whine and complain about everything. The line is too long. The bus is taking too long. Why is the bus picking up people in that other line? We should just walk (we were about 2-3 miles away). It wasn’t like this LAST year. There’s too many people, they shouldn’t have come. And on and on it went. It was by the grace of God alone that nobody was strangled, beaten or shot to death just to show them what real problems looked like.

And that was how our time started.

Thankfully, once we arrived and got off the bus, things started to get better. We bought our one day tickets with nary a speck of trouble and immediately headed over to the sheep dog competition. While we didn’t stay long, we saw some dogs herd sheep through an obstacle course and then pen them up with just whistle commands from the shepherd. It’s pretty amazing.

Next on our list, and the biggest draw for Mrs B, was the Cooking Demonstration by Gary MacLean, the National Chef of Scotland. He’s a very personable man, devilishly handsome and I could understand about 3/4 of what he said. It was amazing! 😉 He regaled us with funny anecdotes and little personal stories while he and a local chef helper made up short bread, meat pies (they had a fancy name, something something bridey something something) and some sort of clam with bacon and kale concoction. He was cutting and stirring and laughing and groaning and kept us all very entertained for that hour. Afterwards, everyone could go up and taste a sample of what he had made. Being the good new englander that I am, I stayed in my seat and glared at everyone. Sadly, Mrs B’s California roots were showing and she not only went up and tested the short bread, but she actually talked to some perfect strangers while in the line. Land o’ Goshen! What’s this world coming to?

After that, we went our separate ways to wander and wonder as our fancies took us. I headed over to the Scottish Vendor area and bought myself another nice walking stick. A 59in hickory stick with roughed in finish so my fingers had something to grip. I hope to have some pictures of that by this Sunday. Once I had that particular weapon (I did wear my sig, but it was concealed as always), I stalked the grounds, looking for the least peopled area I could find. It took awhile, but eventually, tucked away in a corner, I found an unoccupied row of bleachers where you couldn’t see the gigantic brute men lifting 450lb stones for fun. I sat there and wrote in my journal, expressing myself to myself as only I can. It was a good time. Mrs B merrily went her way looking at pretty much everything, but in search of the elusive oat cakes. Short bread was everywhere, but oat cakes were apparently not in style this year. Thankfully, with a second, much slower investigatory stroll while putting to The Question various merchants, she was able to procure for herself two boxes of the precious treasure.

Now that both of us had achieved our goals and reached our limits, we returned to the dreaded Lot D and began the long journey home. Thankfully, it was all highway driving so I just put on cruise control at the speed limit (so we’d be the slowest car and everyone would pass us so I wouldn’t have to tap the brakes) and 2 1/2 hrs later, we were home, safe and sound.

And thus ended our day and our celebration. Thankfully, we are currently enjoying Sabbath, so that’s all right then! 😀

Happy Sabbath to you all.

A Sabbath Letter #3

While Mrs B and I both aggressively work on keeping our lives from being overcome with busy’ness, sometimes an idea needs some concrete forms to crystalize. I found the following Sabbath email very helpful in that regards.

“Be still and know that I am God”  Psalm 46:10 

I was recently given a book with a very odd title: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, by Tyler Staton. Mr. Staton is the lead pastor of a church in Oregon and the national director of the the 24-7 Prayer Movement in the United States.  The book cover tells me that it will “open or reopen the lines of communication with your Creator,” and will show you how to “practice multiple positions of prayer, including silence, persistence, confession, and more. I want to share with you for this Sabbath message the first of the monks’ prayer postures—“Be still and know.”

Mr. Staton begins the second chapter reminding us of how truly difficult it is to “be still,” compared to the days before the invention of the clock, the light bulb, and the I-phone. For example, a 2019 survey found the average I-phone user was staring at his phone screen for over five hours each day! He includes an anecdote about the Christian philosopher, Dallas Willard, who was asked, “What do I need to do to be spiritually healthy?” After a long pause he answered, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life!” So if hurry, along with “busyness and overload,” crowds God out of many Christians’ lives, learning to “be still” is a good antidote.

For being still, Mr. Staton suggests that his readers try this method, and perhaps you would like to try it sometime this Sabbath day!

• First, create a daily ritual. Choose an ordinary quiet place like your favorite chair in your bedroom.
• Second, sit straight up with your two feet planted firmly on the floor.
• Third, lay your hands in your lap, palms open, facing up.
• Fourth, close your eyes and breathe in deeply and slowly three times.
• Fifth, pray something simple and invitational like “Here I am Lord” or “Come, Holy Spirit.”
• Sixth, be quiet. Be still. Wait!
• Seventh, set a goal of at least two minutes before you open your eyes. Gradually work this up over a period of weeks to ten minutes.

When I tried this, I kept repeating to myself, “Be still and know that I am God” to keep out distracting thoughts. Finally, I decided it had been a good five minutes and opened my eyes. When I looked at my watch, it had only been two and a half minutes!

God help us all to learn to “Be still” in this hurried, frantic world of instant gratification. The Sabbath is a great time to practice this!
Shabbat shalom,

Christ’s Blessing on you all this Sabbath.