Weekend Recap

I spent Saturday sitting at a table at the Mid-Winter Scottish Irish Music Festival (at the Valley Forge Convention Center) listening to 45 minute acts of Scottish and Irish music for eight hours. OK, six. From 11 AM until 5 PM. I came away with a couple realizations.

1) Most bagpipe bands sound the same.
2) “Scotland the Brave” and “Amazing Grace” are the 2 songs that most bagpipe bands play really well, so they play them often.
3) Celtic Rock is really cool, but those 2 guys with digiree doos and a set of bagpipes just wasn’t my cup of tea.
4) Albannach KICKS ASS!! Too bad their CD’s are all sold out online. I’d do the digital download, but I’m not sure if you can play it in iTunes, and I’d hate to pay for something I can’t use. But DAMN, do I want their music in my collection!
5) My daughter is amazing and woe betide the young man who makes an inappropriate pass at her. She’ll likely break him in half.

My girl-child takes swordfighting classes. NOT fencing, swordfighting. We’re talking two-handed, cut someone’s arm off swordfighting. (www.livesteelfightacademy.com) She’s been doing it since she was 12.

She doesn’t use steel yet, as she’s not had enough years of training. But she’s something with wood!! I mentioned this schooling to the mother of a friend of mine and she asked if she should report me. I couldn’t tell if she were kidding or not. Needless to say she and I didn’t talk much more after that – I was kind of afraid of her.

My son used to take the classes, too. He was on the demo team and got to use live steel before he quit. He could slice a full gallon milk jug in half with one swipe one-handed. It was something to see. My niece still goes occasionally, but she’ll turn 18 this weekend and will have to change over to the adult classes. She'll probably give it up because her mom won’t pay for it anymore. Not that I blame her mom, since the child’s gone to maybe 1 of the past 5 classes. It gets expensive when that happens. My girly is still enamoured enough with it that she goes every week.

And then there are the events. Mid-Winter Scottish/Irish Music Festival in February, Celtic Fling in June (sometimes – sometimes they don’t do this one), and the Green Lane Scottish/Irish Festival in September. They also demonstrate at the Royer-Greaves School for the Blind, but I can't remember when. Green Lane is our favorite.

Right now, the school is offering a self-defense class for women. It’s currently open to members and their families only, but if it’s a success, it’s going to be offered to the public. I’ve learned a lot so far. My daughter takes it and my two nieces and their mom, too. Of the 12 people in class, 5 of us are Savoys. Pretty funny! Although after each week, I feel how old I am in the muscles that refuse to bend and stretch properly the next day.

So what did I do Sunday? Nothing. Beautiful, blessed nothing. We picked my son up from the bus station at 8 PM and the family went out to dinner, and that was it. He’d been in Boston for the weekend at Open House at the Art Institute of Boston, which is where he hopes to go to college. He stayed with relatives and had a great time. He’s been accepted to the Art Institute of Philadelphia, and just (barely on time) sent his app to Boston. We toured the school last summer, and he’s hell bent on going. I just hope we get the letter he wants to see soon. I’ll feel a lot better…then I’ll be sick wondering how we’re going to pay for it. But that’s another story for another time.