...or fife or Pennywhistle or recorder or....

The introduction to Fifes (same fingering as Pennywhistles) came in High School, at Acton, Mass. The re-enactment of the Battle at the Concord Bridge was huge, and several friends were "Minutemen." They bought their fifes for $10 (black plastic) or $20 (silverish.) Why not? One each landed in the collection.

Then my sixth-grade guitar-playing friend offered me her high-school flute at a great price-- it had been dropped down a stairwell, and had a bend and a dent, but it sounded fine-- and my dad bought it. I played it casually for years. In college some guy at the university music building straightened it out for me, no charge. Then a young kid in a rehab center played it beautifully and cherished it. But somebody else at the rehab center stole it, presumeably to sell for drug money. The kid was crushed, dad was very disappointed, and I was out a flute.

The college discovery was Pennywhistles, from a fellow Crew-ton who had carried hers up and down glaciers and mountain ranges, and dropped it down a cliff, with no ill effects. (Far more forgiving than a flute.)

The best thing about Pennywhistles is the price; the second best thing is the portability and sturdiness; the third best thing is the tone. Not quite a golden flute! But still, very nice for under ten bucks. The collection holds a Generation "D" and a "G" (the "G" is too shrill to play very much, you'll get a headache, but it's so tiny it's irresistable) and a Tinwhistle in "C". The Tinwhistle is really tin!--it's stamped, rolled, and a little wood block to help form the whistle. (Careful, the edges are sharp.) The tone is not as sweet as the Generation type.

The same friend who sold me the Flute in High School had taken up a bamboo fife, and played it faithfully. (She also had a gorgeous collection of wooden recorders.) I was intrigued enough by the bamboo to get a bamboo fife of my own, again for under twenty bucks. The holes are widely separated so it's challenging to play but the tone is very folksy. A few notes are a bit sharp or flat-- whaddaya want? It's unique and handmade.

Up in Maine, Tanya was playing her own bamboo fife, and though hers was a half-note higher than mine, we struggled to play together, half-covering holes to get sharps and flats. While our duets left a little to be desired, we usually played without an audience-- out on the rocks by the lake, or on canoe trips. When we tired of duets we'd sit and listen to each other solo and improvise.

Now my collection mostly gathers dust, but the memories are treasures. And who knows? Hobbies have a way of coming around again... At last year's Winds of Worship conference, Scott Underwood played a Pennywhistle solo, and since then, mine has come out of the drawer a few times. I wonder if the neighbors would mind if I played it on my evening walks?

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