The Royal Mile

Last night after we got home from a shopping trip to Kokomo, we turned on the TV and there was a program on PBS called “Great Streets.” Its focus was on The Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. Emmylou Harris took viewers on a tour of this famous area in one of the most beautiful cities in the world (my opinion). The program was very well done and I was thrilled to watch it as it brought back memories of my two visits to Edinburgh, once in 1989, and again in 2001. One of the highlights was the National Library of Scotland. Michele and Keegan were sick of hearing me exclaim “Look, I was there at that shop or such and such a place…” I’d dearly love to take them all with me on a trip back to Scotland, a place that has special meaning for me. My grandfather emigrated from Scotland to the U.S. in the ’20s after serving as a cook on fishing boats in the North Sea. I’d love to show my children the home in Macduff where my grandfather, Stanley McCallum, was born and raised. There is a wild, harsh beauty to Scotland, especially in the area called the Moray Firth, where my grandfather came from.