The Christmas Report

The cold front has finally arrived.  This morning is downright cold, at least in South Florida terms.  Any time the temp falls below 50 degrees down here, I say it's cold, and this morning, it's 47 degrees at the airport.

Yesterday some of our local family members were coming over for brunch, so we had some manic cleaning in the morning.  We threw some salmon on the grill and put some potato chunks in the oven to roast.

It's nice to have a cleaner house this morning with leftovers in the fridge.  We also have an uncooked turkey in the fridge.  I found whole, frozen turkeys for 68 cents a pound, which is not that much more than what I paid for the first whole turkey I ever cooked, back in 1990 or '91.

We had thought we might assemble outside, but it was chilly and windy yesterday.  Happily, our gathering was small, and it was easy to spread out inside.  We had my spouse's brother and his wife come over; we've seen them twice since the pandemic started.  My brother-in-law is a surgical tech in a South Florida hospital, and we were happy to hear that he's gotten the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.  He's had plenty of protective gear during this pandemic, and they don't go out and about much, so we've felt fairly safe seeing them.  Our adult niece also dropped by.

We tried doing a group Facebook video chat with my spouse's family members who are in the Memphis area, but we had some trouble with the audio, so we signed off fairly quickly.  Our niece had another engagement, so she left about an hour later.

Throughout the afternoon, I watched neighborhood kids go by, some of them learning to use new bikes or skates.  I watched people walking their dogs or just enjoying a jaunt in the neighborhood.  I take great comfort from these signs that life as we once knew it continues.  In this week of hearing of a new strain of COVID-19, one that's even more contagious, I needed a sign like the view from my front window on Christmas afternoon.  Happily, the vaccine will likely protect against the new strain too.

As I was thinking about Christmas and the most hopeful news of the past week, this haiku like creation came to me:

Now yet not complete
Inbreaking kingdom of God
First vaccines given

Later in the afternoon, my spouse, his brother, and I played some hymns.  My brother-in-law had viola lessons as a child, so he was able to pick up the violin fairly easily.  I started on the mandolin and then switched to the piano.  We worked on "What Child is This," which is not the easiest song to pick up and play with no rehearsal--fun! (and I do mean that literally--it was fun).

After all our guests had left, my spouse and I watched some science-y specials on quantum mechanics.  At first, watching physicists talk about all the unexpected ways that particles can move across space and time might not seem like the best choice for Christmas.

But this year, hearing about both quantum mysteries and cosmic mysteries in the same 24 hours struck just the right amount of wonder and awe.

Relearning the Piano Again

Last night, I decided that it was time to start playing our new-to-us piano.  My spouse has done a good job of playing every day, but I haven't.  So I opened With One Voice hymnal to "Soon and Very Soon."  I worked my way through the right hand melody line, which is fairly easy.  Then I added the alto line to my right hand.

Then I decided to be very brave and added the left hand.  It was easier than I remember.  There I was, each hand playing 2 notes--not always the correct note, but I got the note more often than I didn't.  My spouse said, "I didn't realize you knew how to do that."  

I let him in on my secret.  When we got the electric keyboard in 2005, I chose that song as the one I would learn as I worked to remember what I had learned in childhood piano lessons.  So it's not like I just opened the hymnbook and everything flooded back from childhood.

I chose that song for a reason beyond that it's one of my favorites.  It's fairly easy with just a B flat.  I prefer songs with no flats or sharps, but this one isn't hard.  And at the time, I needed a song with lyrics that would uplift me.  Plus, I needed a song that I knew--it's hard to know if I'm playing the correct notes if I don't know the song.

Since we got the piano, many people have expressed surprise that I took piano lessons as a child.  In my family of origin and in my marriage, I'm seen as the non-musical one in families of vast musical prowess.  I confess that I don't often do much to counter those assumptions.  And compared to most members of my family, I do have the least musical skill and knowledge.  I forget that I have so much more musical skill and knowledge than so many humans do.

As I relearn the piano, relearning again, I'm surprised that I know/remember more than I thought.  I can't do a lot with key signatures and transposing songs, and that's O.K.  I can read music, which means I'm a lot further ahead than I would be otherwise.  I'm intrigued by how much comes back as I practice my rusty muscles, both the physical muscles of my hands, and the metaphorical muscles of my musical training.

Welcome New Piano!

Yesterday afternoon, we welcomed a new instrument into our household of many instruments:  a piano!  Our friends were moving and needed to find it a new home.  They had gotten the piano from another mutual friend who was moving across the U.S. and couldn't take it with him.

I have wanted a piano for a long time.  When my grandmother moved into an assisted living facility, I wanted to bring her upright piano down to me, but it didn't work out that time.  When my mother-in-law lay dying, I got a Casio keyboard, but that wasn't exactly what I wanted--I could never get it to sound like a piano.  I never found a stand for it, so to practice on it, often I leaned over a coffee table.

I like a piano for many reasons--it stays set up, so practicing here and there should be easy.  It's not like they keyboard where I'd need to pull it down, dust it off, plug it in.  I'm hoping that I'll practice the piano even if I only have 10 minutes.

It's a smallish piano, an upright that's not as tall as most uprights.  It doesn't take up nearly as much room as I expected that it would.  I need to talk to my musician friends to get a reference for a piano tuner, but even out of tune, it's got a good tone.

I hope that having a piano that's in tune will make it easier to tune our other instruments, particularly the mandolin.  My spouse has several digital tuners, but I don't find them very easy.

But most of all, I want to play again.  I took several years of lessons as a child, so I can read music.  I can play the right hand easily, less so the left, and putting both hands together is a challenge--but a fun challenge.

I love the idea that I'll be challenging my brain in a way that's more fun for me than Sudoko or learning a foreign language (although I do want to learn a foreign language).  I love the idea that I'm getting in touch with something my younger self knew how to do.

It's a bit battered, but I find that to be part of its charm.  Much of our furniture has history, so it fits right in.

Welcome new piano!  I am so glad you've found your way to us.