by Timothy  Cummings –

When I woke up this morning, it was a refreshingly crisp -6F (-21C) outside.  Inside, it was more like 62F (17C), which was cooler than my indoor ideal, but certainly nothing to complain about.  This is Vermont, after all, and we’re in the midst of the coldest weeks of the year.  Though a native to the Southeastern U.S., I’m starting to get used to the cold, and keeping warm is not a great challenge, normally.  Keeping well humidified, however, is another matter.  In homes such as mine, which are a little drafty and where the main heat source comes from a wood stove, the ambient relative humidity this time of year is often below 40%.  On the bitterest of bitter days, it can drop below 30%.

The North Country seasonal desert is bad news for a wooden instruments, particularly bellows-pipes, and many of us take fairly drastic measures in order to keep our instruments from crumbling to dust the moment we pick them up.  Many of you are already very familiar with these humidification practices.  But desert living is also rough on the body, drying out sinuses, eyeballs, senses of humor, and—worst of all for the piper—drying out our skin.  Our fingers can lose their summer suppleness with skin becoming leathery and occasionally even cracked.

Dry skin is perhaps more a problem for adults than youngsters, particularly inflicting middle-aged adults and seniors.  I’ve taught pipers ages 7 to over 70, in both Canadian and Vermont winters, and have found that older adults, and especially men, consistently have drier, more leathery skin than the young sprites.  I have an emerging theory that this phenomenon leads to piper enemy numero uno for the adult learner: the drier the fingers, the more leathery and inflexible the skin becomes, and the stiffer the fingers become, all causing the piper to grip the chanter evermore ferociously in an effort to prevent leaks.  And of course the fierce gripping can often lead to fingers slowly migrating off the holes, leading to more leaks and squeaks, and in turn more gripping and frustration.  It’s a tragic cycle of doom, destruction, despair, and death.  Okay, maybe not death, except in rare circumstances.

So what to do?  The most obvious solution is to move to Belize.  Failing that, I think regularly applying copious amounts of hand lotion to hands and fingers is a really good idea.  Being a good, hippiesque, morally-superior Vermont resident, I personally tend to prefer lotions that are made with the most natural, least processed ingredients, and go out of my way to avoid petroleum-based moisturizers for a whole host of reasons.  My current favorite is Aubrey Organic’s Collagen & Almond lotion — it moisturizes wonderfully, absorbs into the skin very quickly, and isn’t at all greasy.  And they don’t test it on animals, not even the hobbits.  I haven’t yet asked my pipemakers if there might be an issue with certain lotion ingredients adversely affecting  or improving the wood of my pipes, but my guess is a more natural lotion that’s been given plenty of time to fully absorb into the skin is not going to be a problem.  The collagen & almond lotion happens to contain the same oil I use to oil my pipes (almond), so I let myself believe no harm is being done.

It’s worth mentioning that those of you who often serve on the “do-dishery committee” will probably find your hands to be completely desiccated in winter.  Ditto for those of you who pride yourselves on being able to karate-chop firewood barehanded when it’s -217?F (-138?C) outside.  My suggestion is simple: find someone else to do those jobs.  Failing that, wear gloves!  And apply more hand lotion when the job is done.

Now there is also the occasional problem of fingers that are stiff and inflexible chiefly because they aren’t warmed up.  I have one skinny student who will actually hop into a hot shower before practicing.  And I know others who will run their hands and forearms under hot water for several minutes.

I’ve tried both, and they seem like expensive, short-term solutions — though my hands warm up a bit and turn impressively pink, they cool back down pretty quickly as the excess moisture evaporates off them.  Notably, hot water also tends to strip oils from skin, ultimately drying it out further.

Holding onto a hot cup of tea, however, is a better option — the heat seems to sink in more deeply without drying the skin.  But even a hot cup of tea rarely stays hot for long, particularly if you’re consuming the tea.  Best of all, I think, is to fill a medium-sized glass canning jar with hot water, screw the lid on tight, and hold it between your hands before and between tunes.  The advantage to a lidded jar is that it stays warm much, much longer than a tea cup or mug because the heat can’t escape nearly as rapidly.  Plus, it’s a lot cheaper and more energy efficient to fill up a jar than to run the shower or the kitchen tap.  And once it inevitably cools down, you can water your plants, top up your humidifier, or fill up the kettle for another cuppa.

If your fingers are still feeling cold, you might also consider investing in a good pair of fingerless gloves, particularly ones made of merino wool.  (My current favorite is a pair of merino-possum fingerless gloves from New Zealand that are extraordinarily warm and surprisingly soft.)  These also seem to help retain moisture in the skin.  Some particularly desperate folks might even go so far as to wear fingerless gloves and stuff small hand-warmers in the palms.

Lastly, I mustn’t forget the most important advice for this time of year: drink lots of water.  Aside from literally hydrating your skin, having plenty of fluid in your system also improves circulation and joint mobility (among other benefits).

Whatever method(s) you adopt, remember the goal is to be able to play with more relaxed fingers.  Supple skin and warm digits will do a lot to prevent gripping, which in turn will do wonders for your music and your enjoyment of midwinter piping, not to mention the long-term health of your tendons and joints.  …Of course you could also try adding a nip of whisky to the overall equation of warmth and relaxation, but be careful not to make yourself too relaxed!  Speaking of, I believe it’s that time….  Cheers!

Tim Cummings plays, teaches, writes and publishes bagpipe music.

Thanks to Ryan MacDonald for the photos of piper’s hands.