All over for another year ...

The New Brunswick Highland Games are over for another year. I have it on good authority that they are the best ones in Atlantic Canada, and I'm always impressed each and every time, and always a little sorry to see it go. Like last year, we drove up and back for both Saturday and Sunday, and it was a lot of fun.

I'm not sure what the Lieutenant-Governor thinks of us taking over his yard for the weekend, but I have to tell you -- it's a beautiful, beautiful spot. With the St. John River in the background and the huge trees and well-manicured hedges, it is definitely a site worthy of the event. Being from Saint John, I'm not really allowed to like Fredericton, but it's my favourite (current) New Brunswick capital.

Although I took in more of the heavy events this year and was suitably impressed ("One moment while I toss this telephone pole ..."), what gets me deep inside every single time is the massed bands. From the time I was a little girl, I have loved the sounds of the bagpipes, and having a hundred pipers start playing all at once and begin marching towards you is a heady, heady experience. The drone and the drums almost vibrate inside your chest when they start up, and no camera or video could ever, ever do it justice. I think next year I'll give up on trying to take pictures of the massed bands because I'm always disappointed. It's an experience that totally defies capturing.