The Lost Bagpiper

As a bagpiper, I was asked by a funeral director to

play at a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family or friends.

The funeral was to be held at a cemetery in the remote

countryside and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I

became lost and being a typical man, did not stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and

the crew who were eating lunch but the hearse was nowhere in sight.

I apologized to the workers for my tardiness and

stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place.

I assured the workers I would not hold them up for

long but this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch.

I played out my heart and soul.

As I played the workers began to weep. I played and I

played like I'd never played before, from Going Home and The Lord is My Shepherd to Flowers

of the Forest .

I closed the lengthy session with Amazing Grace and

walked to my car. As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I

overheard one of the workers saying to another, Holy Moley Man O Man O, I have never seen nothin' like

that before and …………………….

…………………………I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.

been out too long in the sun today Dave?

been out too long in the sun today Dave?

yeah its getting kinda hot out here now. I'm gonna have to park the bike for a few months and cage it to work.

only ride in the evening or early morning to the market and such.

the only thing that my suburban has over the bike is a good stereo and bucket seats. still no air conditioning. and the extra 1000% gas money increase is gonna hurt, but its better than seizing the motor in the DT