Plan B. B for Bonnie.

I don't have many of the father/son memories like the ones I've heard from my contemporaries. There was never a time that my dad woke up on a Sunday morning and said, "Hey let's go out in the yard and play some catch." Or, "Want to grab our tackle boxes and head down to the fishing hole?" 

We didn't have poles. Or tackle boxes. Or even a fishing hole.

Whatever time we did spend together was often contentious.

"I'm not spending $3000 to waterproof the bottom half of our modest Split Level, when I have two strong -- soon to be stronger- boys who can do the work with (for) me." 

As if that pleasantry weren't enough, we'd dug, and dug and continue to dig a four foot deep trench around the perimeter, all the while listening to him drone on about Nazis. And how what happened in Germany, could easily happen here. That would have been an improvement.

I believe if I were to ever go into deep psycho-analysis, I would start with that little anecdote.

While I learned a little (reluctantly) about waterproofing and the water draining properties of medium sized gravel rocks, I learned (also reluctantly) about the fragile nature of American democracy and the dangers of xenophobia.

Fast forward to today and a discussion with Ms. Muse about escape hatches. We often josh around about how despite my Hebraic Seasonings, I am more Celtic than she. Our 23andme maps detailing our ancestors in Ireland are mirror images. Folks from Scotland and Northern Ireland are surprisingly similar. And because of the constant nomadic struggle to find work, highly interchangeable.

The difference here is that my mother was an immigrant. She came to the states when she was 17. The bravery demonstrated by she and her sister Mary (RIP) is astounding. Given all that, I had a chat with Counselor Google. And the good news is that my brother and sister as well as my cousins, Jackie and Alan, are all eligible for Scottish Citizenship. 

Automatic citizenship, has such a definitive and declarative sound to it. Of course I know there will be obstacles and road blocks ahead of me so I'm not going to go and buy a fancy schmancy kilt right now. But I can see it in my future.

Or as Ms. Muse so eloquently put it, "I'd have my own Dougle." If you watch Outlander on Netflix, you know.

The point is, fortune favors the well-prepared. And so I'm putting my convalescence to good use and beginning my quest to obtain me Scottish papers.

To be continued...