If I was any more geeked, I'd be arrested.

Against my better judgment, I volunteered my son and I to play at a 10 a.m. Memorial Day Mass at a local cemetery tomorrow morning. I said we'd do a prelude tune and some postlude tunes but that I want to do it from a distance. I don't want to be up front; I want to be atmosphere, ambient music, part of the furniture. I'm doing Highland Cathedral as a solo prelude/call to worship, and then we're doubling up on Amazing Grace/Going Home and Wing/Rowan Tree for postlude. We've been playing about 18 months, so these are nice, do-able tunes.

Sunday evening, my pipe sergeant called. He's playing at a Memorial Day service at another cemetery at noon. He asked my son and I to join him and play an echo to his Amazing Grace.

He knew we had intended on attending the ceremony to hear him play, so I was quick to say that I didn't want him to ask us out of any sense of obligation. He said it wasn't that at all. He said he knows we've got the tune down, so we'd be fine. He also said that this is how the band starts training pipers up so they can start getting handed solo wedding and funeral gigs.

I'm flattered. This is going to be cool.