What happens in Fergus, stays in Fergus... unfortunately

Jeff and Sean- Crazy Buggers

On Friday morning I left North Bay and headed down to Fergus, Ontario in order to attend the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. As I'm a student, I have had to work full time throughout my "summer holidays", and consequently have had Not Much Fun all summer. So I was really looking forward to this weekend!

I went by myself, and I really wasn't worried about being alone. I have always enjoyed doing things by myself, and I also happen to know that Scots are generally a kind and hospitable, as well as highly entertaining breed of people. You simply couldn't ask for better drinking partners! So I had no qualms about the thought of attending the games alone. I knew I'd have a great time regardless.

As it was, the first night I was there I met a wonderful, kind, and hilarious group of people, with whom I ended up spending most of my time for the rest of the weekend. Several MacDougalls were especially kind to me. This family kept me fed, and warm and dry. They even gave me a dry blanket on Sunday night after my tent was crushed by an especially nasty, thrashing storm, and all of my bedding and clothing were soaked through ankle deep in water.

The music was amazing, and it was a rare moment that you would suddenly stop and go: "Hey! I don't hear bagpipes anymore." They even played throughout the night, and you would only notice if they stopped. I left the festival grounds on Saturday morning to go swimming in the river, and even though I knew I was surrounded by silence, I could still feel the pipes thrumming in my head.

I realized that in Fergus I was happy, Really Happy, in fact. I hadn't realized until this weekend that I haven't been happy for quite a while. It is scary for me to know that I won't be able to go back there probably until next year. That seems like way too long of a time to spend away from people I have come to consider good friends in just a matter of days. I cried upon leaving this morning for home. I think now that I am going into a sort of withdrawal of happiness, that I was riding on a high of fun and friendship, and now I have to be prepared to brace for the low of returning to my normal life. Well, what a fucking drag.

I feel like I left something behind in Fergus, but I know that I have everything I brought with me (I just unpacked it all- soggy as it was). But I have the feeling nevertheless, that I MUST go back. I believe I will make this trip every year from now on. I think that with the quality of the company, I would have a blast everytime, and hopefully continue my new friendships.