Tuesday, July 19, 2022 (Court Day #520)

My former bagpiping instructor contacted me two days ago and asked if I would perform with the bagpipe band this coming Sunday for the annual ‘Wharf to Wharf’ race with its many thousands of runners. I haven’t performed with the band for over 15 years! While I do get the pipes out a few times a year, I never play them for very long and I’m quite rusty in band terms.

The reason I mention this is that I ended up staying late at work play the pipes tonight and try to prepare my body for the performance on Sunday. Bagpipes are unlike many other instruments in that they are very physically demanding. The there is also the aspect of brushing up tunes—they aren’t called “songs” in piping—some which I have not played since I left the band and dropped out of the competition circuit due to hand health problems. (The neurologist diagnosed it after testing as ‘overuse syndrome’.)

I got to Skypark about 7:30 p.m. and got a few games in. I think the most fun game was Terry (the barefoot player) and me against René and “Texas” Mike B. There was an unusually light crowd and by 8:30 there was only one game going—TK and friends. I ended up talking to Mike and René about half an hour after that and then headed home.


Number of days on a court: 520
Number of total hours: 2,396.5

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