The 4th of July parades…

The crappy photo below is of Fran Wallace and myself before the 4th of July parade along time ago.

Learning the bagpipe and playing with the pipe band in parades was going to be fun, right?

Well yes and not so yes, you see the high season for parades and piping is on The 4th of July.

In Maryland the day is ALWAYS hot, always. Add to that heat is the humidity that we are famous (infamous) for. This turns a scorching day into an oppressive day quickly.

Even in the morning the heat is building, almost tolerable so far, so good. I arrive at the spot where the band forms up and my fellow band mates straggle in and everyone is in a holding pattern- of sorts.

There is a saying in the Army, “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” we are just killing time waiting for the line up queue to begin and the heat I mentioned earlier is building.

Oh I almost forgot, everyone is wearing 8 yards of heavy wool. The kilts look great hanging about our hips for sure, but they really keep things hot south of the border.

Finally the parade begins and I experience a few moments of elation, hey this wont be too bad…we are moving!

There always seems there is a hill to walk on the route and here comes one now !So now I am marching in time with the band, playing the bagpipe- which is a very physical instrument to play. Remember the 8 yards of wool…I never forget it, the more we walk the more it seems to weigh me down.

Everyone (most everyone) loves to see the pipe band march along, you can hear the pipes before you can see them and it is quite a sight indeed.

The band makes a coordinated turn to the left and the reviewing stand is in view.

We pass the reviewing stand and stop and are dismissed by the pipe major.

I remember the Towson parade once gave out ice cold of cans of what I do not remember as a reward for our effort. That sticks in my mind as being really welcomed by everyone!

Enjoy your summer, be safe and thanks for walking along with me….oh by the way the pipe band is paid for their performance. Now we are off to the Catonsville parade, already did the great Dundalk parade earlier and we finish up in Bel Air. This is the biggest payday of the year for all bands.