Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

What fun it was to sing Auld Lang Syne at the Hogmanay Gala at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on Dec 31!  Crossing arms with the entire sold out crowd, balloons falling from above, fireworks (inside the hall!) and streamers being shot across the audience to celebrate the end of 2006.  Hogmanay (the Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve) is a huge event in Scotland with Edinburgh and Glasgow both offering huge street parties in addition to concerts, ceilidhs (like a Scottish square dance), etc.  Thankfully, I had opted for the concert instead of the street party as both Edinburgh and Glasgow were forced to cancel outdoor activities due to 70mph winds and torrential rain.  Edinburgh stayed hopeful until 9pm when the toppling of portable toilets, etc. forced cancellation. After the concert, my parents and I returned home to watch the celebrations on TV and at Midnight they showed fireworks at Edinburgh Castle (prerecorded due to the bad weather preventing live fireworks!)

Staying in Scotland for Christmas and Hogmanay has been so much fun!  My parents decided to come visit me this Christmas break so we could experience the holiday season in the UK.  Although the recent weather has been atrocious, their first week in Scotland was marked by blue skies which gave some excellent sightseeing opportunities.  We visited Stirling Castle for their "Christmas at the castle" event, finished up our Christmas shopping on Edinburgh's Royal Mile and toured Edinburgh Castle, drove north to see Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe when the hills were covered with snow, went east to enjoy the Dr Livingston Museum and the ruins of Melrose Abbey, and with the change of weather have done the museum tour in Glasgow with the newly renovated Kelvingrove museum, C.R. Mackintosh's "House of an Art Lover," and Pollock House.

As a bit of an aside, let me tell you about the Kelvingrove museum.  I never saw it before the restoration, as it was already closed when I arrived in 2003.  The restoration cost over £27 million pounds ($50 million) and took over 3 years to complete.  The building itself is spectacular and worth every penny, but the displays leave something to be desired from my point of view.  One section, "Glasgow Stories," has sections on violence towards women, mental institutions in the city, sectarianism, and then to my surprise a section on the American wild west with video clips of old westerns and Glaswegians in pink cowboy hats with feathers playing bingo and line dancing!  Little to no important history of the city itself!  The natural history section has an extensive collection of stuffed animals and birds, however many of them aren't labeled so you cant find out what they are!  Ah well, this is Scotland.  You can't expect labels and history for £27 million!

For Christmas dinner I tried to stay as Scottish/UK as I could so we had roast chicken (stores were out of turkey) with chestnut stuffing, glazed carrots, roasted parsnips, mashed potatoes and swedes, baked cauliflower with cheddar, green beans with bacon, and Christmas pudding with custard sauce for desert.  We also had Bourage (a sparkling raspberry juice) which I get at the local farmers market and later an autumn oak leaf wine made by Cairn O'Mohr in Scotland (yes, its actually made from autumn oak leaves with not a grape in sight).

Another fun aspect of my parent's visit has been investigation of my Dad's Scottish roots.  My mother had traced his grandmother's family back to Robert Scoon who was born in Scotland in 1812, but over the last few days we believe we have traced the family back to John Scoon, born in 1674, at Todshawhill Farm south of Edinburgh.  Apparently it was farmed by the Scoons for about 200 years until Robert Scoon emigrated to American.  As the farm still exists, we hope to go for a visit in the next few days.  At the time the Scoons began farming Todshawhill in the early 1700's, it was owned by the Duke of Buccleuch (ancestor of Sir Walter Scott) whose successor is currently the largest landholder in the UK.  Very cool to know some of the history of my family down to the exact farm!

Best wishes for the New Year!