"Pot luck" has been on my mind as my Friends of Faire group prepares for its annual Burns Night, and with it, the close of the winter holiday season.

While most of the United States population assumes that "the holiday season" starts with Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November) and lasts until New Year's Day (or if New Year's is on a Sunday, January 2nd), for some of us the season may begin as early as Samhain (Hallowe'en), or last until Epiphany, Eastern Orthodox Epiphany, Imbolc (Groundhog Day)... or Burns Night.

While Robert ("Rabbie") Burns lived and died in the 18th Century, his poetry, written in the lowland Scots' dialect, has animated and invigorated a Scottish cultural romanticism which continues through to this day. Every year, people of Scottish heritage -- and people who want to identify with Scottish culture -- observe his January 25th birthday with a  celebration that would seem as manufactured as Kwanzaa while being as raucous as Saint Patrick's Day.

Identification with Celtic and Gaelic heritage runs deep among many of us involved in "creatively anachronistic" hobbies such renaissance faires, the Society for Creative Anachronism, and certain historical reenactment groups. It is not only the various Scottish-heritage and -fraternal societies that observe these rituals on the Saturday closest to that of the auld poet's birth -- it's also the SCA, historical-interest societies, Friends of Faire groups, and so on. 

My Friends of Faire group celebrates an annual Burns Night following our winter General Meeting. While we hold to the basic traditions of reciting Burns' "Ode to a Haggis", followed by a "Toast to the Ladies" (and its "Response"), everything else is about as untraditional as one might get: forty or more people in attire ranging from modern casual to modern Highland (either day or formal) to historical or fantasy "garb", and mostly-modern music. There's Scotch -- the quantity of which is overwhelmed by the amount of mead, beer, and other alcoholic potables (not to mention the nonalcoholic beverages). There is the traditional (Americanized) haggis, along with Scotch eggs, "tatties and neeps" [mashed potatoes and turnips], and colcannon -- but the rest of the dinner is "pot luck" -- which in our part of the country means "everybody brings a dish, and while we check in with what we're bringing, nobody says "we have too many desserts, could you please bring a vegetable instead?"

In short, it's one of those "diabetics' worst nightmare" events. Or, as Allison of Lemonade Life says, "bolus early and often". (Of course that doesn't apply if you're not on insulin therapy.)

This year's Burns Night is tomorrow, and preparations are in full swing. Cooking, garbing, rearranging collections of music, and gathering together portable chairs, sleeping bags, and any other equipment needed for an all-ages version of a sleepover party. Among the toasts, we will say "goodbye" to a friend who left for the Summerland too soon, and (hopefully) "goodbye" to the coldest days of winter. We'll sing "Auld Lang Syne". And while we'll label our food contributions with the ingredient contents, the nutritional information is generally ignored, so most of us with diabetes will be guesstimating proportions, portions, potions, and (figurative) poisons as we party.

I'm looking forward to seeing friends again after a long, drawn-out autumn, getting dressed up (even though my kilted skirt has been in serious need of replacement for a decade or longer), partying, and planning for the upcoming faire season. I'm less sanguine about the cooking, the lugging, the opportunities for munching down on anything and everything, and the higher-than-desirable blood glucose levels that the event brings. While some adult members of the group will head out for a local indoor faire next month, Burns Night is in many ways our "goodbye" to the winter. I am looking forward to warmer weather, long bike rides that don't require multiple layers, and my Tour de Cure ride in June. And maybe, by next year, a new kilted skirt.

For the rest of you who are partying this weekend, enjoy and be safe. If this is your first Burns Night with diabetes, consider that sporrans are usually a reasonable size for d-supplies (if you're not carrying anything else), and that OneTouch Ultra Minis and most lancet devices should fit neatly in men's kilt hose. Slainte!