Thanks Tattie. I never used Zoom. The thought of it was a bit confronting for me.

This is a long story, but one of the key elements is that our music session group clung to the need to keep playing music over the 40 years, and even more importantly during the COVID pandemic because it has been a key factor in our mental and social well-being and many of us are now getting into our senior years with more risk of developing dementia.

Pre-COVID and for most of 35 years or more we had our music sessions at different people's places but then it was easier to have them at two houses, mine and someone else's. We always had sessions twice a month, but during COVID restrictions we decided we needed to play weekly for our own sense of well-being.

We started going to local parks, initially when there was a limit of a few people getting together - I think it was a limit of 5, and there was a limit of residents in one local council area only being allowed to go within a few miles into the next local council area. (I was organising it all, and OMG what a challenge that was. I could write a book about it!) The variable weather was also an issue, playing outside in parks and if there was bad weather expected, communicating by email (i.e. email tag, round and round conversations, sometimes going for hours until a group decision could be made) was a nightmare.

Then when restrictions eased a bit we found a local club which allowed us to use one of their spaces. Unfortunately, one of the staff took a dislike to our music - i.e. Irish music, mostly. Some people love it, some people think it's like listening to fingernails on a blackboard.

Eventually, one of our members managed to score the use of a meeting room at a business run by someone in her family. We kept up the weekly sessions, but then the power dynamic began to change. There was a coup by a couple of the musicians who are not so fond of Irish music and, well, things went south after a while for some other members including myself until the group split.

Then, life got in the way of our smaller group - mostly health issues for ourselves and our close family, so a few months ago that lovely little group ended. A couple of the members still went to the bigger session, so it became a conflicted choice for them of whether to go to one or both sessions.

Our smaller group played at a local park in the rotunda. Many of the other people at the park would comment about how much they appreciated the music. It was a good atmosphere for playing music for our own well-being, and for the enjoyment of others who were also in the park.

I miss it a lot. I know that I need to exercise my brain by playing music but it's a lot more satisfying playing with other like-minded musicians than tinkering about at home on my own.

I'm not sure how this will all turn out for me. Apart from busking with our session group now and then, I don't play in front of people except as an amateur. I might have to break free of my fears and try busking on my own, or sneak my Celtic harp into the monthly pub session and play a couple of tunes. Scary!! but maybe a leap into the unknown would do me good. (BTW it's a lot easier to sneak in with a tin whistle etc than a harp. LOL)