Scotch mist

Woke to a hazy, misty morning this morning, with steam rising off the greens where the sunrays were sneaking through the clouds. It was another busy workday broken up with an invitation-only lunch and photo op with incoming president Gordon and his wife Heather. They recognized us when we lined up for the photo and remembered that we came from "the end of the world" (District 9999). I was even more amazed when Heather singled me out for a specially big warm hug and a relatively long, easy conversation in a room full of about 200+ important people. She's a really lovely, kind and very funny woman. We didn't get to chat with Gordon as he was being monopolized by the VIPs at the other end of the room.

Shobana and I have been spending a lot of time together, and this afternoon we worked on our "Peace" crafting project. It was a nice relaxing antidote to the full-on programme, though neither of us could claim to be an artist! I must admit that I played hooky for the last half hour of the day. Came back to our room and was mesmerized watching the egrets feeding by the water's edge - a nice timeout.

This evening was great fun. We sat next to one of the Rotary directors - Jeremy from the Cayman Islands - and also with our Aussie friends from South Australia. I was nervous about the Haggis on the menu ... but it came to the table looking more like a Wakefield pie than some animal's intestines, and it was quite delicious. We were entertained with pipes and dancing, taught how to do proper scottish... though Phil and I sat that out. We were still yakking away with Jeremy and hearing the story of the exploding haggis ... when his mother microwaved it!

Heather, accompanied by the guitar and flute, sang a beautiful Scottish love song and then one of my favourites, the Banks of Loch Lomond.

The formalities ended with a toast (a wee dram) to Gordon's dad, who was manager of the Glenmorangie Distillery. One sip was enough for me, though it was smoother than most whiskeys I've tried. The Koreans at the table were keen to join in the toasting, but alas, thought it was the knock-back-in-one-shot kind of drink, and had to do the official toast with an empty glass! It was all good fun and a wee taste of Gordon's beloved Scotland.Read more