I was ready to fall asleep when I saw a video of Cynthia Erivo whistling on Jimmy Fallon. She performed a series of “whistle runs.” I had never considered whistle training, learning to control your whistle as you do your singing voice. Then, a video of Minnie Riperton hitting notes so high they turned her voice into birdsong. Then, a series of short documentaries about whistling champions and championships. I emptied my mouth of yawns - the world of whistlers was just too good! Here’s a playlist of some of the videos I came across. It is about 45 minutes long, if you chose to watch everything.

In 'Ditching School to Whistle' a competitor at the International Whistling Competition talks about whistling as an emotional impulse. He left his family in North Korea at the age of 15. "I missed my parents, so I whistled. Then I came to the United States, leaving my wife and two children. I miss them. Then I whistle." Whistling as a way to regulate, self-soothe, and relax comes up again and again in these videos.

The third video in the playlist, Fermanagh Wolf Whistling Competition, soothed some of my homesickness. I hope it makes you laugh.

I suggest watching these videos when your eyes are beginning to droop. Maybe your dreams will be soundtracked by Whistling Tom! A couple of days after the original whistlehole, I found myself in a new one - superstitions, languages, and bans on whistling. Enter the second whistlehole here.