At Craig Rehabilitation hospital in 1983 Chuck was made aware that his right lung was also affected by the stroke; it was too weak to support much breathing. Years before he entered the University of Wyoming as a Tuba major, and he knew playing a wind instrument would have a positive effect on this situation. Craig had a mini-garden that was surrounded by buildings that created an acoustic environment. After the day in the gym on the therapy beds Chuck would go there. He taught himself to play the Tabor Pipe – similar to a penny whistle but played with one hand because it only has three holes. The other hand was used for drumming simultaneously, which he learned to do after joining the International Tabor Pipe organization. Chuck knew about the Tabor Pipe because he played recorders, and because Shakespeare’s plays were supported by it (along with several other instruments played in the Musicians’ Gallery).  

He gained enough expertise that when he competed against penny whistle players at the Estes Park Scottish Games he took various prizes, including one first place, over several years. Pre-Covid Chuck played the pipe at the Denver Botanic Gardens while waiting for the Shakespeare’s Plants tour group who would gather to meet Shakespeare at the end of the tour. Often he would play at sunset until the moment the sun went down.