Friday afternoon I was back out on our deck practicing with my pipes. Lately I've done it facing the house, which may provide some aural benefit--with the further advantage(?) of being able to monitor my reflection in a window. Well, after playing the band's military medley, with more goofs than I would've liked, I heard applause from a spectator I'd failed to notice, though he was standing nearby. Turned out he'd been raking two houses down. His first comment was that he'd been exposed to piping from British troops in Northern Ireland, where he'd been once been stationed during World War II. Wound up an unexpectedly long conversation. He told me of fighting Germans with the 34th Infantry in North Africa & Italy.

Realized afterwards that, like a big dummy, I'd forgotten to thank him for his service.