The rain it falleth quietly down
Upon the just and unjust fella;
But more upon the just because
The unjust hath the just’s umbrella.

The rain has been raining non-stop since Thursday afternoon until and including right this very minute: Saturday 9 November 2002, 6:01 p.m., P.S.T.

I played for a funeral/memorial service today in the said rain which I was not looking forward to. Usually that extra moisture will send the reeds berserk. Each will start going flat on its own separate time table. (If they all flattened out in unison it wouldn’t be so bad.) And when each drone reed has absorbed enough moisture it will shut itself off. The chanter reed will just get swollen, out of balance, out of tune, and too hard to blow.

But for some reason today everything was fine. Yesterday’s practice was dreadful. Today’s performance in worse conditions went quite well. Go figure. The pipes were singing. They even tuned in a minute and a half. It was one of those days when the music all came together. There was even a little awning to stand under and stay out of the direct rain.

For the record: the tunes were Tugainn Leamsa's Dean Cabhaig, Flowers of the Forest, Lochaber No More, How Great Thou Art, Chi Mi na Mor Bheanna, Gather at the River, and - at the end of the service - A/G, six times through, no less.