Nose Whistle

So my 20 years old tells me that she's aware of my Wife & Four Daughters Blog and had a story for me. While watching television with her 8 years old sister, Dhara, she noticed Dhara attempting to blow a whistle with her nose. The whistle was tucked neatly into one nostril as she pinched the other and gently blew several times into the whistle. I say gently, as she was apparently aware that a hard blow would generate more than a whistle sound. After a few attempts, she pulls the whistle out of her nostril and disappointingly shrugs to her older sister.

This got me thinking about nose whistles. Can't be the first attempt! And I'm sure some third world, we don't care 'bout no snot community must surely have perfected the art of nose whistling. A quick tour of Wikipedia proved me right. Throughout Africa, China, Oceanea and India, nose whistles or nose flutes, if ya got aires y'all, abound. And they appear to come in two distinct varieties. There's the traditional looking three-holed straight flute popular in Polynesia and a more elaborate looking nose whistle from unknown-to-me origins. The Hawaiian version, the 'ohe hano ihu, can actually be heard at this site http://www.rangapae.com/Breathe%20in%20page.htm. The latter is designed to blow a sound into the mouth, and hopefully only that, and comes in an array of beautiful hardwoods and today, in a myriad of colorful plastics. Yes readers, you too can serenade your loved one with an authentic nose whistle. Or if your daddy's got money, a nose flute. I may actually make a commission off the sale of a few of these.