An oft-quoted line in our house is, “We all use math every day.” It comes from the opening credits of the TV series, Numbers.
Anytime anyone mentions anything that involves calculations of any sort, one or more of us will say the words. This is done partly out of habit and partly for the benefit of our nine-year-old granddaughter, who rolls her eyes and groans.
Not everything we do is groan-worthy. A few weeks ago, we watched an episode of the BBC crime show, Shetland. As soon as the opening theme music started, our granddaughter’s eyes lifted from the book she was reading. Something about the melancholy, modal tune caught her attention, and when the characters began speaking in thick Scottish accents, she put her book down.
After the show, we had to find Scotland on a map and pinpoint the Shetland islands. This led to watching several documentaries and travel logs. She loves the sound of bagpipes and was thrilled to learn that she has a bit of Scottish blood from both sides of her family.
I’m half Italian and would have preferred she get excited about that culture and music, but grandfathers can’t be choosers. Her instant love for Scotland is delightful to see, and we’ve learned a lot about that country.
Scotland’s area (30,090 square miles) is about the same size as Maine’s (30,862 square miles). Though we are similar in size, more of our state is water. Thirteen and a half percent of Maine is lakes and rivers, compared to only three percent of Scotland.
Coastline is hard to compare accurately, but looking at a map, it’s plain that Scotland has way more coast than Maine does. However, we have about three times as many islands.
Scotland is more densely populated. Maine has 1.3 million people, they have 5.5 million.
Scotland definitely has more redheads. In fact, it has more redheads per capita than any other country – even Ireland.
They also have a better official animal than we do. Ours is the moose. Theirs – wait for it – is the unicorn.
Maine has 100 or so golf courses. Scotland, where the modern game of golf was developed, has more than 600.
My granddaughter is taken with almost all things Scottish. Among the few rejects is haggis, which she is sure she wouldn’t like.
Haggis is traditionally made from sheep’s heart, lungs, and liver. These three organs are minced up and combined with oatmeal, onion, spices, salt, and suet.
Genuine haggis can’t be imported into the U.S. – it’s the sheep lungs that are banned – so there are no worries that we will try to convince our granddaughter to give it a taste. To do this, my wife and I would have to eat some first. And then we would have to acquire a Scottish accent and take to saying, “We all eat haggis every day,” which would, of course, get an eye roll and a groan.
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