Monday August 30th

Life continues to rush along at a fair old pace.

Claire & Chris got back home from the hospital with wee Jesse on Saturday night. It will take a little while to convert his sleep patterns over to sleep at night, wake during the day. Just one of those things with newborns.

We're all flat out with the Shows coming up in just under a month, and 6 weeks respectively. They're looking good and have a very pleasing range of exhibitors on board which will certainly be attractive to our Baby Boomer generation. We still have the odd stand here and there yet to fill, but all is looking positive.

I'd better get back to it now in case I get told off!

Cheers
Bruce


Subject: Vale: sad passing

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs.

Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Queensland back country. As I was not familiar with the bush, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived over an hour late and saw that the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place and earth covered most of it. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

I played like I've never played before for this poor, homeless man. And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I ain't never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently I was still lost...