On Piping in the Mountains…With Neices

Needless to say grad school, a full time job, and other responsibilities do not leave much time for practicing. . .or blogging.  However, I have been practicing when I can and here are some highlights/catch-ups from this past year:

We played for a Hunley ceremony on the beach. The Hunley was the Confederate submarine that sank a Yankee boat and then sank itself.  Re-enactors had a service at dark on the beach and then we all went to a pub

























I was given the Piper of the Year award by the Charleston Police Pipes and Drums-go figure.  It doesn't mean I'm the best player but it is for the person who is enthusiastically dedicated to the Highland art of bagpipe playing (my husband wishes I wasn't so enthusiastic).













               Angus thought he should be given the award-we fought over it-I won.


When I started my new job in the pain clinic and got the lay of the land I experimented with using my very strict 30 minute lunch break as a time to practice my chanter in the back of my car.  My practice venue looked like this:

This has been hard to do consistently because getting out to the car and eating seriously limit how much time I am able to practice.

I have continued to compete with my 2/4 March and Slow Air.  In the Charleston Scottish Games I also did my first piobaireachd ground competition…and got 4th.  I got 6th in the 2/4 march.  At the Stone Mountain Games I got 6th in my 2/4 march.  I was rather pleased with these for how little I'm able to practice.

In the middle of all this Annette got engaged to Mark Hargrove.  I was NOT invited to play at any of the celebrations and I have been told there will be NO bagpipes at the wedding so don't even ask.  Sigh!I guess I didn't start playing early enough so that the pipes were imprinted positively on the kids

. . . so I have started early with my nieces.  They were happy to march in my parade as I practiced this past weekend

This semester I have been doing a pediatric clinical rotation and working in the office of Charlestown Pediatrics.  Krispy Kreme had Pirate Day:  if you walked in and spoke pirate you got a free donut BUT if you walked in dressed like a pirate you got a free dozen donuts.  So, guess what I did?  I went early to get my donuts then stayed dressed up as a pirate for my day in the office with the kids.  It was a lot of fun.

For Halloween I wore my kilt and police shirt (we had a gig to play right after my clinical).  I saw my patients wearing this outfit and had my stethoscope around my neck.  I'd walk in and ask the kids what I was dressed up as.  One boy looked me over from head to toe a couple times and then focused on my stethoscope and his face brightened "a doctor!"  I took the stethoscope off and said "No, guess again".  He looked me over from head to toe again and then focused on the police shirt- "A policeman!"  So I put my glengarry on (the little hat) and said "No, guess again."  He did the look over twice and then, with a very puzzled look on his face he said, "A police cook?" Sigh! There is much work to be done in this younger generation.