It's very easy to get lost in the New Jersey Pinelands...acres and acres of dirt roads and protected forests. But there are some homes scattered throughout the huge area...many are still occupied by the families of those that built them long before anyone heard of the Pinelands Preservation Act!
Recently my friend, a bagpiper, was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a man who had few family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery in a remote area of the New Jersey Pinelands.
Now even if you've grown up in southern Ocean County, it's very easy to become lost on the back roads of the Pinelands.
Well, my bagpiper friend became lost. When he finally arrived, at what he thought his destination, he was over an hour late.
But he saw the backhoe and the crew eating lunch. However, the hearse was nowhere in sight.
He apologized to the workers for his tardiness and stepped up to the side of the open grave where he saw the vault lid already in place.
He promised the workers he would not hold them up for long but this was the proper thing to do.
The workers were a little puzzled, but gathered around and continued eating their lunch.
My bagpiper friend said he played with his heart and soul. He played with such emotion that the workers began to weep.
He played and played, closing what turned out to be a lengthy session with Amazing Grace. He walked to his car, quite pleased with himself.
As he was approaching his car, he overheard one of the workers saying to another, "Sweet Jeezuz, Mary ‘n Joseph, I have never seen nothin’ like that before in the twenty years I’ve been putting in septic tanks!"
Laura...When we are installing septic tanks on our new construction sites we generally only ask the state for their blessing upon install...but the bagpipes are a nice touch.
Hi Laura:
Funny...
Maybe there should be a ceremony everytime a septic system is put it!!
Have a great weekend.
Wow! I have never heard of such a spectacular tank installation. Things sure are different in New Jersey1 LOL
;)=
<vampire smile- after all its Halloween! Make it a great one>
Sounds like a really great area to see, but not such a great one to have a poor bag Piper running loose.
I'm with Toula on this one.
A ceremony for every septic tank install would be a nice way to recognize this often underappreciated necessity!
Laura, now that was funny...I'm still smiling! I thought I recognized that character above me...Craig, that didn't look like one of the options.
Laura, As I was reading I kept wondering what the punch line on this one was going to be. Too funny. Thanks for the laugh today! I love it!
Laura, this is too funny...I like bagpipes and was quite attentive to the story with the most unexpected end!
As a Scot myself, I am familiar with this joke but it still gives me a chuckle. LOL
Steve
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