CATEGORY: SAILING
PHOTO: BAGPIPER

We were skirting North Pender Island when we came upon a brand new lodge with a pier stretching out from a semi-circle of handsome new log cabins.  In the curve of the cabins was a perfect green-carpet lawn.  In the middle of the lawn was a flag pole flying the Scottish flag.  There were strings of balloons from it to the buildings.  As we pulled up to the dock, a kilt-clad laddie (a tall, blonde young man) playing the bagpipes, came stepping out of the lodge and down to where we were.  He had that hip gyrating gait I had seen in so many parades that makes the kilts swing from side to side with each step.  Wow!   

An older couple who were the owners also came out to greet us.  They invited us in for free food, explaining that this was the grand opening of their resort.  They said they and their son (the bagpipe player) were the second and third generation of Scotsmen who had lived on the land and that the first generation had homesteaded it.  They said the land had always been in their family: “Pure Scottish soil from the very beginning!” they said.

Bob and I had both noted that the dock was built on an Indian midden (a place where there is a layer of clam shells visible in the cut bank indicating that Indians had camped or lived there for many years).  We looked at each other knowingly.  It had not always been Scottish soil.  But that did not stop us from scarfing down the delicious Scottish pastries offered us.   We thought that perhaps the ghosts of many Indians were standing beside us enjoying them also.  We thanked these Scottish nationals whole heartedly before be left.