Bagpipes

            There use to be a bagpipe player in the neighborhood, but I haven’t heard him play lately. I’m assuming he moved away. Either that, or he gave it up. I liked listening to him practice. The sound carried up the hill into my cabin. He usually practiced during the day. What he was playing was indistinguishable. Bagpipe mumbo-jumbo of the official order. Who knows what they’re playing, but it sounds good. It’s a commanding instrument. If you walk into a room with a bagpipe heads are going to turn. And if you start to play, even though nobody will know what you’re playing, people will be interested for a song or two. It’s hard to hold an audience for more than that with a bagpipe. You can’t do a bagpipe concert. They don’t hold. They wear on you. They’re better suited for parades, where you can hear them coming and going, and as they pass they sound beautiful.