On hurling the haggis

One thing I never thought I'd be doing: actually competing in the games portion of a Highland Games event. But in Hendersonville on Saturday, the VP came around asking women to sign up. "It's just fun, and a way for us to be a part of the games, rather than just watching," she assured me. So I signed up. I think if you can do something, you should do it. Otherwise you might miss out.

The first event was hurling the haggis. This is based on the custom of Scottish women throwing their husbands a meal, tied up in a sheep's stomach, across a stream where the men were working. The man would have to catch it. I'm so glad I don't have to do that, because Jordan would probably starve to death, poor thing. We didn't really hurl haggis, though; it was a 2.5 pound beanbag. We first had to curtsy to the judge and then yell something, it didn't matter what, as we released the haggis. We were supposed to stand on a barrel to do this but it basically dissolved right before the competition, so we stood on a bale of hay instead. If you fell off, the throw didn't count. I fared better than I expected; I managed not to fall on my butt like some of the women did, and didn't end up hurling the haggis back over the heads of the audience. We didn't use the proper form, but I might look it up for next time.

Then we tossed the broom. This was based on the idea that the woman would throw the broom at her husband because he made her mad. I did okay, but not great. The next event was the Welly Toss, based on what you would do with your husband's muddy boots if he put them on your clean floor. Well, we only got to throw once for this one, and you can see how I did...

It landed about two yards from my feet! Embarrassing. "But it bounced up pretty high!" Jordan pointed out.

But that wasn't all. We still had the Mead Relay to go! In this one we filled shot glasses with mead (okay, it was actually root beer) and ran across a field to pour it into a mug. The team to fill their mug first wins! Here I am filling up my glass (second person from the left).


And here you see me running back to hand the glass to my teammate. Please notice and duly appreciate how I am nearly at a 45-degree angle with the ground. That hasn't happened since college, for sure. That second mug is ours, and we were doing pretty good!


My team won third place, and I got a ribbon! Yay! It makes me glad I didn't dress up for these games.


This is right after they handed the ribbons out (Suzi missed me). The lady behind me in the dark dress and apron was on my team for the relay.


I think I am going to get a boot, a broom and a beanbag and train in the backyard for next year.