Satisfied

First posted Oct 24th, 2012 by newpiper

The title actually describes how I feel about my piping today. I've only played the once between this evening and my last post, but it went well. This evening I got home late with a headache and a real urge to get the pipes out. So I got them out, got straight into playing, ran through my dotless tunes without picturing the dots, or even really thinking at all: it felt as though the tunes were just there in the pipes and I was releasing them.

To go back to an oft-used metaphor, it's a bit like driving. When you begin then if you have a day or two away from it you really need to remind yourself of everything before you set off. I then had a stage where I was OK unless I had a longish break and then I would just have it in the back of my mind that I hadn't driven for a while and would need to get into the right frame of mind. Later on I'd find that I'd get in and drive off and only half way down the road realise that I hadn't driven for a while, and just note the fact that it didn't bother me. Nowadays - I've driven pretty much the same route twice a day for over 10 years - I don't ever think about it: I just get in and drive, and it feels natural and I don't need to think or readjust - it's just what I am doing.

I've been trying out Troy's Wedding, but not getting very far, so spent a little bit of time this evening trying to get Bonnie Galloway by heart. It's coming. I've got Castle Dangerous sorted. Work is too much of a distraction at the moment: taking up too much mental space. A week off next week and with my Christmas knitting projects well under way and the allotment ready to be put to bed for the winter I should have time to play and hopefully blog as well. Watch this space.