Inspiration from the Scottish Highlands

Was a little bummed last night. Feel like I have to blog pretty regularly to get followers but couldn't for the life of me think of anything to write. Then as if a gift sent from heaven, bagpipes. "Damned TV was picking up another channel!" I thought. No wait, we don't have TV and were watching an episode of LOST, or as we like to call it "Head Trauma" through the PC. Daya looked at me and asked if heard bagpipes. When you suddenly hear bagpipes coming out of nowhere, it's always a good thing to discover you're not the only one. It reminded me of the time, shortly after Katrina, while waiting for a school bus with my 2nd grade daughter when a lady walked by with two Llamas. I watched for a moment and sheepishly asked my daughter if she saw two Llama's. She did, I told her she was such a good girl and watched them walk by. Back in our living room, I breathed a deep sigh of relief and said "Yes. I do hear bagpipes!" We searched the house for a radio or alarm clock that had gone off. Nothing. The pipes were sporadic, making it difficult to zero in on. We waited, quietly. Again the pipes called, we rushed to the rear exit onto the deck. That's when we discovered that bagpipes can really play hell with the ears. They stopped just as we hit the deck. Again they played, our 8 year old rushed from her window to declare they were coming from the front yard. We all rushed to the front porch and waited in the dark. Barely visible, across the street a figure sat on the steps to the front door. Suddenly, bagpipes. "Is this like a caroling thing for the Irish - a day after Saint Patrick's day New England thingy?" I asked Daya. "Is he hitting every house on the block? Do we have to tip him or something? 'Cause if we do, I'm heading in." "Nope.', Daya said "I was raised here and have never seen anything like this." Mina, nearly 12, asked if bagpipes were Irish, being the day after St Pat's Day, or Scottish. Mostly Scottish I shrugged, somewhat unsure. "Can we go over there dad?" Dhara aged 8 asked. "No baby. He might be nuts." I honestly said to her. We were quiet for a bit waiting for the next round. We weren't disappointed. It was kind of nice. Always liked the sound of a bagpipe. I was still a bit afraid of the guy on the blowing end but liked it just the same. "Got a lot of Irish here. Thinks that's it?" Daya speculated. "Dunno. Got a lot of Cajuns back home, but no one ever serenaded me with an accordion" I reasoned back. "I can't make him out" I complained, "is he wearing a kilt?" "You know tomorrow is Mismatch-Day at school" Mina speculated, suggesting some sort of tie in. "Works for me" I laughed and we went back inside and off to bed. The pipes ceased replaced by the drone of our iphone sleep machine app. Can't wait for tonight!