Hello, Everyone! Good to be back 
!
I would like to take some time (mine and yours) to tell all of you about some observations I have made concerning myself during the time I have been out of your esteemed company.
As some of you may remember, I took a leave of absence (http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=39112&highlight=) in order to further my education in whistling. However, I found that after I finished reading over Bro. Steveās Tin Whistle pages (http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/index.html) I began drifting away from the whistle. First thing I did was to stop whistling in the car during stoplights because it was summer, my window was open and I didnāt want to injure passerbys and embarrass myself with my squeaking. My wife, a musician in her own right and a proud possesser of perfect pitch, had her musical sensibilities warped with my irritating and frequently out-of-tune practicing. Since our home is built on an open floor plan, that pretty much left the open deck outside for practice. Summer in Vermont was rather rainy this year. All of this resulted in very little practice going on and, after a while, my interest and desire faded. My priorities changed. I found other things to listen to besides Irish music. Emotionally, if not consciously, I had given up ever being able to play with any amount of skill.
Lately however, I have been drifting back towards playing and practicing again. While it is true that I am not, and probably never will be good at whistling, I find that I am a poorer person when I am not working at it. I also found that my isolation from all of you contributed to my deliquency. In my āLeave of Absenceā post, I said that I was ceasing my association because I wanted to " ādig inā in earnest and really make something of this whistle obsession". What I found was that, without your knowledge and encouragement, I was less effective and frequent in my practice and play. So, I am returning to the forum for the same reason that I left it - so that I can ādig inā to the whistle again.
In retrospect, certainly I should never have left off participating in this forum. I think that things would have turned out better and I would have continued practicing these past months if I had stayed in touch with my āsupport groupā. The Chiff and Fipple forums are like a āWAā - Whistlerās Anonymous - to me:
Hello. Iām Woody, and Iām a whistle-holic . . .
The result of all this is that it looks like you folks will have to put up with myself, my ignorance and my lack of ability for some time yet. In turn, I hope to benefit from your enthusiasm, your knowledge and your encouragement . . . and your forgiveness when I am totally off-base. In return, I hope that, in some small way, I may contribute to our ever growing community of whistle-holics.
Sorry I got so sappy. . .
Woody (Shadeclan)
