Plaid Kilts and Caber Tossing

Today, I'm participating in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.  The prompt I chose is:

1) What comes to mind when you think of the word "plaid?"


In my mind, plaid = kilts = Scottish clan tartans.

The clans of Scotland have their own tartan (or plaid) that their kilts are made of.

There's MacArthur Clan Tartan,

Donegal Clan,

Robertson Clan,

and many, many more.


We recently saw many different tartans at a Scottish Fling.  The Scottish Fling was a festival that held The 6th Annual World Amateur Highland Heavy Games Championships!  (Did you know there was such a thing?)

There's the 22lb Stone of Strength competition, the 56lb Weight Throw, and my personal favorite - the Caber Toss.

Do you know what a caber is?

It's basically a telephone pole!  It's a long, heavy, wooden pole that very strong men toss through the air.

What the heck?!

Surprisingly, I know a man who tosses cabers.

In college, my husband's friend was practicing for a Caber Toss competition.  This man is huge!  He's around 6'8'' and big.  Really big.

He used to practice with his caber at the park.

Paul, my husband, asked: "Where to you keep your caber?"
Friend: "At the park."
Paul:  "Do you lock it up? Don't you worry someone will steal it?"
Friend:  "Who could possibly steal a caber?"

Right.  No one could steal it.

So back to plaid.

I love a man in a kilt.  Playing the bagpipes, throwing stones, or hefting cabers.  It's just plain cool.

And remember, the only appropriate thing to wear under a kilt is nothing at all.

(Just be careful how you sit!)