I never met my great, great maternal grandmother. I do, however, know where she was from: The Highlands of Scotland. Chances are she may have actually liked the sound of the bagpipe. For the uninitiated or those who purposefully avoid the bagpipes (and both are usually the same) the sound they make is called “skirl”. If you talk about bagpipes the image most people summon is a band during a St. Patrick’s day or a lone piper on a hill. Few, if any people, summon up images of an Australian piper playing Thunderstruck by AC/DC with flames coming out the pipes. For those who would like to see said spectacle it can be viewed here:

There was a time I was in a pipe band. At the moment it seems a lifetime away; and I guess now it is. My effort at learning to play the leasebreaker…er…bagpipes, was only cut short when I joined the military. After that, as they say, life happend. Most of the time I spent simply trying to survive it.

Now, like most of you, I have alot of time on my hands. I am one of those who are blessed with the ability to work from home. Still, the confines of our quarentine castle begin to summon images of retirement (if there even is that sort of things these day). The question arises what to do with ones time. On the usual answer is “go travel” and “see the world.” These days no one is doing much of that. There was a time I tried playing the guitar but I just couldn’t seem to make my hands move on the frets like they should. We do, however, live in an electronic age where lessons are available online.

And there is that piano in the living room. Did I forget to mention that. You know I think I may be afraid of it. Or something.

Maybe its time for a musical challenge.