The Piping Racket

I think I'm going to live to regret using "racket". Even now, the punsters among us are grinning at their keyboards and preparing to strike.

Well, Mark, "in demand" may be over-stating the case. But I do get a small but welcome income out of it. Is it because I'm a dead-brilliant piper or because my schedule is flexible? Sigh. The probabilities are leaning heavily toward the later.

The memorial service went well. Very sad. The woman who died was a 42 year old sheriff's deputy. There was an off-duty traffic accident in which her car over turned, fatally injuring her. From the pictures at the service, she was a very pretty young woman, too. And from the geezer side of 50 where I stand, 42 is indeed young and getting younger every day. I played A/G for the flag-folding ceremony. And afterward, I did play some of the old traditional tunes also: Flowers of the Forest, Lochaber No More, Chí Mí na Mor Bheanna, The Limerick Lament, and Ar Eirinn ni Neosfainn cé hí. And a little of The Company's Lament.

Tell ya' 'nother thing (as Percy Kilbride used to say): The worst Catholic funeral I was ever at is still better than the best non-Catholic funeral. My liturgical preferences are pretty obvious from the column of links on the left. But I'll take the full ICEL OCP production if the only alternative is the non-Catholic version. The absence of the sacrifice of the Mass and the complete lack of any prayer for the soul of the deceased make these services very depressing for this papist. I always pray for the people I play for and I occasionally have Masses said for their souls.