"It's O.K. -- I don't have anything (that I'm not taking medication for)."

So said the pipe sergeant a couple of decades ago as he gave my pipes a blow.

And this week "state lawmakers . . . last week debated a bill that would require all schools to sterilize musical wind instruments, like clarinets, flutes, and piccolos, before they are passed from one student to another."

The Boston Globe will tell you more here.

(But "If you're going to be a woodwind player, you cannot believe in germs." says my friend Ann, piper and flautist.)