Bagpiping Party Today

I will be out at a bagpiping party today. My husband, Drew, took up piping about 5 years ago. He talked about doing it all of his life so my daughter and I got him started one Christmas by buying him a chanter (the part of the bagpipes that you finger to play the tunes). I found him a group to take lessons with and eventually he got good enough to buy his pipes from Scotland. He was asked to join a band called St. Ann's of Hampton and has now played a ton of parades. He has even played in the famous St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City four times now.

When he first started playing in parades, I went to all of the parades. Those parades in March can be really cold and sometimes we have even had snow for them....brrrrr. Now I only go for the NYC parade. This past March it was beautiful and warm for once.

He practices almost every night so I get treated to bagpipe music everyday. My daughter hates the music so is happy when she is away at school so she does not have to hear it! She claims that one of the reasons she did not want to go to Carnegie Mellon University was because they have bagpipers there and she would still have to hear piping while being away at college. I don't think she hates it as much as she claims. He is good at the pipes now, but it was pretty bad when he was first learning. I have often said it was like hearing a dying cow when he first started. Our cat did not appreciate it when he first started piping either.

So in my family we have diverse interests when it comes to our hobbies. I am into quilting, my husband is into piping and my daughter is into photography. I cannot interest my daughter in quilting and my husband cannot interest her in piping. Believe me we have tried. She has been a big help to me when I have design issues in my quilts, but she is not the least bit interested in doing it herself. She did start a double Irish chain quilt for her boyfriend once. She was really into it when she first started sewing it, but I ended up finishing it so she could give it to him for a gift.

The tall handsome piper close to the camera in the photo is my husband. I just realized that his Mom is in the crowd on the sidewalk in the white jacket. The question he is asked most at parades is if he wears anything under his kilt. He wears shorts. Apparently it is called "going regimental" if you wear nothing at all under the kilt. He says it is way too cold and way too windy to go regimental for most of the parades!

Chris