@helenfrances I miss playing the pipe organ. I've played them in several churches for weddings, and the church in San Francisco where I was the music director had a cool old Wurlitzer theater pipe organ that I had restored while I was there. It was great fun. Originally someone would sit backstage and pump it by hand. I didn't care to return it to its pre-electrical state. The louvers to the pipe chambers opened and closed by the volume pedals. The mechanism that did the moving was tied to leather which did the work. I had to have a lot of the leather work redone.

It was cool to see in the chambers actual drums and marimba and other instruments that were struck or sounded by air at the organ console.

When my sister was being married to #2, she asked me to play a Widor Toccata. I wasn't able to attend the wedding, but I enjoyed the challenge mastering that very difficult piece.

Our current church doesn't have an organ, but it does have a nice 9' Steinway piano that needs an overhaul but is a pleasure to play as is. I don't play it very often, and it's only played occasionally by the worship band. Unfortunately the guys who play it are more accustomed to a keyboard. So, any time I do get to play it, many people approach me after the service to express their appreciation of hearing it played the way it deserves to be played. One opportunity to play is the annual Christmas Eve service, when we sing a bunch of carols. They're so diverse, from Silent Night to Joy to the World. It's fun and a pleasure.

I've worn out my welcome once again. When I write I tend to gather up inertia that can be hard to stop.

Jim