Posted by Ted on August 25, 2002, at 19:13:05
In reply to Re: aaaaaaargh » Ted, posted by fiona on August 25, 2002, at 16:52:54
Hi Fiona,
> I live in a village called Bothkennar in central scotland, well it's not so much a village as a collection of farms.
That explains the poetry of your post. :-)
> Sorry I don't speak Gaelic, although I wish I did. Most of my family speak it, though, they all used to live in Skye. Portree, Uig and Glenhinnesdale (I don't think I spelled that correctly).
That's OK. It's a dying language.
>So what's a guy living in Silicon Valley doing speaking Gaelic? Do you have family here?
Well.... Way back when I was in college, I wanted to learn a language but, being a nonconformist, I found myself a tutor from Glendale, Skye, and gathered a group of 8 or 10 students, and she taught us conversational Gaelic. Also, at the time, I was a member of both a Scottish Country Dance group and a Highland Dance Group.
>This may sound like a stupid question, but why is it called Silicon Valley? (Just wondering)
Are you familiar with the area between Edinburgh and Glasgow being called "Silicon Glen"? It got its name from here. This is the high-tech center of the world, with more electronics and software engineers and firms per capita than practically anywhere else in the world. Since most of the technology is based on integrated circuits ("microchips" or "chips") which are mostly made from silicon, and the geography is a basin surrounded by mountains, it led to the name.
> I think I may take you up on visiting in the winter.
Great! Winters here are relatively mild (rarely as cold as 0C/ 32F) and we get only about 35 cm/14 inches of rain a year.
>Winter here, although just as beautiful but in a different way, is dark and severe and the rain soaks through to your bones. I hate waking up in the morning when its still dark and then coming home from work to realise you've missed the whole of the daylight.
Sounds a beautiful as the north pole. :-) Sorry; I grew up in the Arizona desert.
>Autumn is my favourite time of the year, the colour everywhere is amazing, and the low pale sun warms your face... well I'm rambling now, so I will stop.
But rambling is fun! Anywhere the bugs live, autumn is the only season worth going outdoors.
take care,
Ted
poster:Ted
thread:29245
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020820/msgs/29265.html