A WAY TO CELEBRATE SCOTLAND BY EATING SARDINES, ENGLAND BY SIPPING JASMINE GREEN TEA, AND GERMANY BY EATING MORE SAUERKRAUT

I learned for the first time this week that the Crown Prince-brand "Two Layer Brisling Sardines" that are offered for sale inside H.E.B. chain supermarkets in Austin, Texas, are a "PRODUCT OF SCOTLAND".

That product is packed in "EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL," according to information about it on the front of that package, and one serving of that product, comprising the entire canful of that item, contains "2 grams of OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS" that are very healthy for the heart.

I plan to purchase that particular product on a frequent basis. Not only are sardines good for my cardiovascular health, but they also help me to invest financially in the economy of Scotland.

And this celebration of Scotland brings back memories for me, too, of the McMillan Clan tartan that Father proudly displayed on the wall of our family's living room area during my childhood in Westlake Hills, Texas. So this reminds me to do some research in the year 2017 in order to find out what that McMillan Clan tartan looks like.

Then when I want to celebrate my English ancestry, I can purchase more Twinings jasmine green tea bags from London.

"If only the jasmine green tea bags by Twinings had even more of a jasmine flavor than they currently offer" --- a thought to myself, but I'm not sure whether I will actually write to Twinings and request one new version of their green tea that has EXTRA JASMINE FLAVOR, for those of us who like it EXTRA JASMINE-FLAVORED.

But how do I celebrate my other ancestry--in Germany? I never find any tea produced in Germany; so tea cannot be it.

I did purchase some sauerkraut recently at H.E.B. supermarket, but it was from the United States, not Germany. The product stated that it offered probiotic benefits---if only I had known that decades ago about sauerkraut, I would have eaten a lot more of it.

And there are always the pleasant memories of the German Potato Cake from a German-style bakery in Fredericksburg, Texas, that Father and Mother liked quite a bit in the 1970s.

 Maybe I will make a point of finding a German Potato Cake somewhere in Austin---and so far I haven't---as a way of remembering Germany with fondness.

Maybe I could Google my ancestral connection to Germany--the "Siegling" clan of Germany---to find out if any of my Siegling relatives of Germany of today have written a German-style cookbook. How enjoyable that could be, to cook "Siegling-style" in celebrating my German heritage.

But this combination of three heritages--two of them in fierce battle against England for periods that everyone identifies as painful to recall---is admittedly precarious.

Maybe I should do a Google search to identify which non-profit groups in England or Scotland currently seek to promote greater cultural understanding and friendships between England and Scotland; and which non-profit groups in Germany seek to promote greater cultural understanding and friendships between Germany and England.

But then there is suddenly the recognition that all three of my countries of ancestry, Scotland, England, and Germany, may be understandably alienated from the United States these days. 

When two-thirds of the Global Warming Effect has reportedly been caused by Americans and the United States, and our current President refuses to acknowledge that very major point,
it is difficult to imagine how any friendly ties that involve Americans with English, Scottish, and German citizens can flourish these days.

"President Trump hurts your own reputation as an American citizen," an English, Scottish, or German citizen could understandably maintain in a reply letter to me.

My response to that: I am not currently employed by President Trump in any way, and apparently I am not influential with the Trump Administration. But maybe I should send a note to President Trump, urging him to please re-consider his recent decision to withdraw from the Global Warming Effect Treaty.