Woke up this morning with a burning craving to re-acquire a chanter, bagpipes, music books etc. Must have been something from my dreams or sub-conscience. I used to have a set of pipes which had been assembled by the chap who supplied my Cunningham kilt, which had a red corduroy cover over the sheepskin bag, which matched the red in the kilt. I could play about ten simple tunes, mostly minus the grace notes, and although I busked once or twice with individual members of the local pipe band to help raise funds for them, I never attained the standard to march in the band. Having dabbled with flying lessons since my teens, and being from an aviation family, I finally decided to go all out to complete the private pilot's licence when my father became terminally ill with cancer, so that I could tell him of my progress while he was still alive. The bagpipes got sold to help pay for all the flying I was doing at the time. It would be nice to take up the pipes again and get back to where I was before and maybe progress to a higher standard of playing but realistically I just don't have the time for the tuition and practice which would be needed. Ironic therefore that while I can no longer call myself a piper, the aeroplanes which I now fly are mostly built by Piper Aircraft Corporation.