My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

-Robert Burns

I recently completed “Calling in the Ancestors”* inspired by my Scottish ancestry. Here, the figure is draped in the Livingston(e) Tartan and in the background is Loch Linnhe and Castle Stalker in the Highlands where my ancestors originated. Heather, shown in the field and on the flower crown, grows wildly there and the thistle (seen in the border) is the national flower of Scotland. Si Je Puis is the Livingstone heraldic motto and means “If I Can.” I feel more connected to my ancestors through this process and hope to visit one day soon. Gratitude to my sister, Beth, who has done all the sleuthing on our Scottish and Swedish ancestry.