My grandfather Murdoch took me to many highland games when I was a lad - but it never occured to me to be kilted too. As a young man I went to highland games and still, it never occured to me to be kilted.

Then, a while back I was at a Ren Faire and saw a guy in a caramel workman's Utilikilt and I caught the fever. Had to have one. Followed him around until I deciphered the logo on the back pocket. Went home and surfed the Internet to find Utilikilt.

Took three long months for the first UK to arrive, but meantime I had the fever and ordered THREE Amerikilts and TWO SportKilts...and I was off and running. Since then I've purchased about 68 (somewhere in that range) kilts and have thirty some left that still fit me.

Two memories of being kilted early on - the sheer FREEDOM of hiking kilted, and my boss running into me kilted in the local hardware store. He broke out in laughter - doubled up...couldn't stop laughing. I stood proud though. Kilts remain a strange sight in my little rural town.