Cello Reunited

Our lost luggage saga wasn't wrapped up as neatly as we had hoped. As we mentioned in a previous post, the flights to Scotland were lovely and everything was perfect until we arrived in Glasgow and found that none of our luggage had arrived, including my cello. After much calling and wrangling with the airport courier service, we got back three of our suitcases two days after we arrived--just in time for the wedding we were attending. Phew!

Except...conspicuously absent from the luggage delivery was the one thing I couldn't live without: my cello. They didn't even know that they were supposed to look for a cello in addition to the three suitcases despite us saying very clearly to the contrary. I mean, how do you lose a cello!? It pretty obviously stands out.

I was fretting and grumpy for the next two days, worrying about where my baby could possibly be. Eventually, they managed to find it and they sent it down to Rory's parents' house, but I was on my journey in the Highlands and then to Glasgow at the time, so I didn't get to see my cello for another week.

At last, I was reunited with my cello--something that is only slightly less valuable to me than my marriage. As I opened the case, I was praying that all the extra handling and shipping hadn't damaged it. TSA agents are seemingly unable to open a cello case, inspect it, and close it without leaving something unlatched. This was no exception. My bow had not been fastened and was hitting the instrument for the whole journey. But luckily, it was still in perfect shape and I was able to tune it and play it happily for the next hour.

I was feeling emotional about having my instrument back and about coming to the end of our stay in Scotland, so I composed a short quasi-Scottish sounding tune and took a video of it. Rory's dad called it the "Icelandair Lament". Here it is!