Benezette, PA

Finally made it to Benezette, PA to spot some elk and enjoy some cool fall air. This trip was so worth it! Here are some pictures! It was amazing seeing these huge animals just roaming around. We spotted 28! 5 of them were bulls. There were a good many calves and one even had spots. The bull in the picture with the cows and calves really kept a sharp eye on his harem.  He would bugle to communicate with the harem and also to warn other bulls to stay away. I wish I would have taken some video of the bulls bugling. I found this youtube video so you can experience the sights and sounds. It was a truly wonderful way to spend the first day of Fall!

Highland Games

I finally had the opportunity to go to the Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games at Edinboro University! Man, I could not get enough of the music and the plaid overload! The opening ceremony was so neat with the bagpipes to open the games. Here is a small sample of the festival. We did not get to the Ceilidh, whiskey tasting, bonfire or presentation of  the haggis. Maybe next time?

L  had the opportunity to talk to a bagpiper and ask her some questions.

Of course there were some foods to try. All of these looked pretty similar to me. I did not try any but I did have an Ox Roast sandwich. Yum.

The main games engaged in by the kilted athletes were the caber toss and the hammer toss (I think?). 

The cabers were nearly 20 feet tall weighing 175 pounds. They looked like primitive telephone poles. CRAZY!

The second event, I thought was the hammer toss. The competitors chose between 2 weights  to toss back over their shoulder and clear a bar that at the winning level was 15 feet high. 

I wish I would have made some recordings of the music.  There were small groups sprinkled through the festival as well as many competitions. Bagpipes, harps, dancing.

My favorite performers were the wonderful Chelsea House Orchestra. Man, the fiddles, the flute just made me want to dance! They were excellent. High school students that were impressive. I sure hope that this festival continues! Made me want to don my clan plaid and jump right in. Maybe next year? Even Murray the Airedale had his kilt on....

Getting out and taking it all in was so wonderful but what was even better was visiting our favorite Senior attending Edinboro University! Even more wonderful than a dog in a custom made kilt! 

Numbers

I am not sure if everyone is like this, but I seem to count everything. Stairs, M & Ms, birds, dogs, oh my, I will not list it all. The other days as I walked around the track at the YMCA being sure to count the laps I completed, I counted 13 frisbees and 1 hula hoop on the roof of the pavilion. It was a sweet remembrance of the fun all 3 of my kids have had the privilege to be counselors ( I even counted and knew the ratios of kids to counselors and boys to girls) there for summer camp. Yes, all 3 kids and I count how many days until I will see them, how many weeks since I dropped them off to university, how old they have gotten and so on. It has only been 4 months since  counting how many kids came through the Tebow CURE Hospital's charity clinics or mobile clinics. Boy, do I miss that. When we were in Niger, I counted giraffes, camels, hippos, sheep flayed and roasting along the road, chickens tied to motor cycle handle bars or the items on top of bush taxis. Why do I count everything? Really...56 geese in the field at the YMCA, 4 deer and 1 snake on my 4 mile walk the other day. I am not even sure what the point of this post is? Maybe I am just looking to see if anyone out there does this? Since returning to the states, I have had a lot of time to think, rest, and count. OK, here is something amazing and weird. The tomato horn worm covered in wasp eggs (here is an article if you want to know how these eggs will kill this harmful garden pest). Now, I did NOT try to count those eggs. Just adding this for the WOW factor. 

Ha ha ha. I am looking forward to heading to Benezette and counting elk soon. I will be sure to let you know. All of these things that I count are both interesting and happy things to me.  A part of life. And life is a wonderful thing. So I will count on.