An Introduction

Well, here I am with a new passion and a new blog.  If you know the difference between a leumlauth and a tachum then you're probably a piper.  I'm a beginning piper (and by beginning I mean I've had 2 months worth of lessons at this writing) and this blog is my humble little way of tracking my progress and recording my observations along the way to really, truly becoming a piper.

So, perhaps you would like to know a little about me.  I'm a middle aged retired lady who lives in central California-do you know where Santa Barbara is?  OK, just drive up the coast for a little over an hour and you'll find my tiny little town.  I like to run.  I like to shoot civil war era guns.  I play with sports cars, mostly the little british 4 banger kind.  And now I like to practice the bagpipes. 

I've wanted to play a musical instrument pretty much my whole life.  As a child, my parents couldn't afford an instrument or music lessons and as an adult I was too busy with work and home and life in general to take up an instrument.  When I retired I decided it was time to accomplish that goal.  I chose the bagpipes because I love the music and I have Scottish heritage.  It didn't hurt that I also had a friend who is the pm for the local pipe band who encouraged me to play.

I bought a practice chanter and a book at the Scottish games 2 years ago.  I learned the scale and a really simple version of Going Home.  I practiced for a while in earnest, then set the chanter aside, then practiced again, then set it aside again, then decided that if I was really going to do this I had to step up to the plate and start lessons.  My pm friend reccommended an instructor and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

So here I am, practice chanter in hand, taking lessons and gazing longingly at my newly purchased pipes and hoping that soon I'll be able to do more than just blow one lonely little drone.