Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Heading back to Nauvoo

My son and I are headed back to Nauvoo for the Pageant.

This year we are going with mixed feelings because my wife is staying behind to help my daughter with her baby (who has yet to appear, but should any day now).

We just finished two days of parades for the 4th of July. I wasn't really pleased with my performance in either parade, especially the last one. We made a commitment to the band that we would stay for the Payson Scottish Festival competition, but we'll leave right after the last performance and try to get to Nauvoo as fast as we can.

I am looking forward to this opportunity, but at this point in time I'm not as excited as I was last year.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Long time comin'

Wow, December was my last post. Well, understandable since I've not done much in the piping world since then.

I talked to the pipe major of the Salt Lake Scots some time in February I think it was. I told him what was going on with hockey and that it looked like our season was going longer than anticipated since the team my son plays on - and I coach - would be going to the USA Hockey Nationals in New Jersey in April. I asked if he wanted us to resign our membership or hang in there for another couple of months until the hockey season was over. He more or less left the decision up to us.

I decided to leave things as they were for now and cross the bridge after hockey.

So, hockey is now over and I'm back with the band and lovin' it.

I wasn't sure how it would go since I'd not picked up my pipes in a while, but while I am a bit rusty, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I have been practicing on my chanters (electronic and PC) as well as on the small pipes. This hasn't help my stamina much, but my fingering is still pretty good.

My son was a bit more reluctant about coming back to the band. I had him attend a drum section practice on Saturday a few weeks ago and I think he has decided that he actually likes playing with the band and will stick with it. There are still many conflicts, but the drum sergeant has been very accommodating.

My approach has been a lot less stressful coming back. My expectations were not very high for myself and I think that I've exceeded them which always makes one feel good about oneself. I'm not putting any pressure on myself to compete solo this year though I have registered with WUSPBA. We'll just see how it goes and roll with it.