ANZAC and Shorter Day(s)
As a bagpiper, perhaps the biggest day of the year is ANZAC Day. Depending on which Pipe Band we might play with, where we live and and your availability, you may find yourself playing at several services on the day starting before dawn and going through till midday. Before all this happens you need to have practiced the tune(s) you will play and know them well enough to be able to think about something else whilst you play ( according to my Pipe Major! ), have your uniform in good order, arrive in plenty of time to warm up the pipes ( and yourself ) and not leave something important behind.. like your bagpipes.. which I nearly did two years ago. Of course this year ANZAC Day has been a little bit different. With winter almost here, our days are rapidly shortening. On ANZAC Day the sun rose at 8:56 AM meaning that I did not have to get out of bed at 4:15am in order to make it to a normal Dawn Service ...