Why I play the Horn

 When I was in elementary school, 6th grade was when you could start a band instrument. I wanted to play trumpet. However, it was 1964 and everyone in my life thought that girls don't play trumpet. Thinking back, it is astonishing how much effort was put into talking me out of trumpet. 

My mother called my orthodontist. I don't know what he actually said, but she implied he said no trumpet. My father got out my brother's toy trumpet and had me try to play it. I didn't realize it wouldn't make a sound unless you pressed one of the buttons, so my dad insisted that I couldn't make a sound and therefore could not play trumpet.

Finally, a compromise of sorts was reached - I could start learning cornet. Now, a cornet is basically a trumpet. The difference is trumpets have a cylindrical bore while cornets are conical, giving the cornet a more mellow sound. [shrugs shoulders]

Band was big in my hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin. I was in a group lesson with 5 or 6 boys as I remember. The beginner band included all the elementary schools in town, so it was huge. 

The next year we moved to Connecticut and I joined the junior high band in our new town, playing my uncle's old cornet. 

People kept telling me that I should be playing French horn. And they didn't say that because trumpet/cornet was not for girls. They said it because something about the way I played said that French horn would be a better fit. Finally in 9th grade, I saw that the world was filled with trumpet players and was lacking in French horn players. So I agreed to take a horn home along with a beginner method book. 

Side note: (9th grade was still junior high in my school district in Connecticut.)

(I will now call my instrument the "horn" as that is the universally accepted name for it.)

It is much, much more difficult to find the correct pitches on a horn than on a trumpet. I struggled for months, but I got better. When I arrived in high school, I was the only horn player in the school. And it was not a small high school. My band director told my parents I should take private lessons. They eventually found an excellent teacher for me in a neighboring town. With his  influence, I went to his alma mater for college, the Eastman School of Music.

Along the way I fell in love with this beautiful instrument.

And my father was incredibly proud of me. And repeatedly embarrassed the teenage me in front of numerous relatives and friends. 

If you ask any horn player why they play the horn, almost all of us will say "the sound." But there's also the incredible repertoire of music written for the horn, from Bach to 21st century pieces. I am lucky that so many people kept nudging me to try it. 

I'll be off to a rehearsal tonight!

"Where were you born?"

 Today I turned again to my book of writing prompts/ideas (642 Things to Write About-Young Writer's Edition - I bought when I was teaching young writers, but a lot of it works for adults too), not being able to think of a good topic. I turned to "Where were you born? Using your imagination, describe the day you were born."

I was born in Seattle, in August 1953. My parents had been married for a year, but they had known each other since they were children. They were from the same small town in Minnesota and their mothers were good friends. My dad's parents and brothers had moved to Seattle during World War II in order to work in the defense industries there. 

In 1952, my mother and grandmother visited my dad's family in Seattle. By then my dad was out of the Navy and had joined his parents there. 

My uncle Don, who was a few years older than my dad told me years later, "Your mother and her mother came to visit. Trev [his wife] and I went away for the weekend. When we came back, they were engaged." He said sounding both a little bewildered and affronted. Don liked to be in charge.

Anyway, my parents were married not too long after that, back in Minnesota. I was born one year and one week after the wedding. 

That day might have been sunny, even in Seattle. Since it was 1953, my father would have been elsewhere, fathers not being allowed at their children's births. I imagine him going back to their little house, waiting for a phone call. He picked up his cello and began to play. He probably would have played some hymns, but I'm going to imagine him playing some of the Bach Cello Suites. [If you'd like to hear a bit of one of the Suites played by the incredible Yo-Yo Ma, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prweT95Mo0]

When the phone call came, telling him he had a daughter and his wife was resting comfortably, he took a deep breath and said a prayer thanking God. Then he drove to the hospital to see us. 

I was a large baby with quite a lot of dark hair and a black eye, thanks to the doctor. But to my parents I was the most wonderful thing in the world at that moment. I know that because that's how I felt when each of my children was born. 

SOL 2024: So Much Fun!

 I've participated in quite a few March SOLs but this year has been the most fun! There were so many great ideas to try - top three lists, guess the year I was born, various poem formats, book spine poems, and Villain Origin stories. It was very inspirational. Thank you all!

I also tried some new prompts from the book "642 Things to Write About." It is aimed at young writers, but with some adaptations, they work for adults, too. 

I felt freer to try new things in my blogging, inspired by other bloggers here. This is such a great group.

I feel like I can make a go of a regular writing habit, something I have struggled with. Writing has become fun this month. Before it felt important, but more like tooth brushing than a creative time for trying different, sometimes quirky, types  of writing.

I hope to see some of you on Tuesdays. Also next year! SOL 2025!!

On Reading in the Middle of the Night

 Like many people, I have some trouble sleeping. Years ago a doctor told me that if I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I should get up and read a really boring book. 

Most of the time I can fall asleep. My main problem is waking up in the middle of the night unable to get back to sleep. I don't know why this happens. When I was still teaching, I would wake up and start to worry about school. I would make lesson plans in my head, which I would of course forget by morning. 

Now I'm retired and usually don't have much to worry about. I don't know why I'm awake. So I do get up, go downstairs (so as not to wake my husband), and read a novel. The book can't be too exciting and usually I have read it before. Reading takes my mind off not being able to sleep, so then I can go back to sleep.

I do see a sleep doctor, a neurologist who specializes in sleep. I take time-release melatonin and L-theanine. The time release is supposed to help me stay asleep.

In the past, before electricity, people generally went to bed when it got dark. In the winter when the nights were long, people often woke up in the middle of their long sleep and used that time to have a snack, interact with their bed partner, and finally go back to sleep for the rest of the night. Thinking about that, I wonder how much of our modern problem with sleep is caused by artificial light. There's no going back from that.

Anyway, my solution is to read downstairs, in the middle of the night, nothing too exciting. It works for me.

Mary Poppins meets Samwise Gamgee

 Yesterday's conversation between Lord Peter Whimsey and Winnie-the-Pooh was so much fun to write that today I'm imagining another conversation.

Mary Poppins: Well, hello. You must be my new charge. I can't say I've ever nannied a child who looks like you.

Samwise Gamgee: I'm not a child! I'm a hobbit.

Mary: A hobbit? Let me think. Not a habit? No, that makes no sense. 

Samwise: No! A HOB-bit. We are a race of beings, shorter than humans, with furry feet. We live mostly in underground homes.

Mary: Hmm. Do you need a nanny? Or possibly a somewhat magical nanny?

Samwise: I am not a child!! Hobbits are just shorter than humans like you. If you don't believe me, you can look us up in Wikipedia! I'll even give you the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit

Mary: Do you have a child, perhaps? I need children in order to fulfill my purpose. 

Samwise (suspiciously): What do you need children for? What do you do with them?

Mary: I introduce magic into their lives. But I do it while acting the cross nanny and denying any magical happenings. I am NOT the Disney Mary Poppins! That saccharine creature is a travesty of, of, I can't think of a fitting word. But, children grow up too fast, especially now. They need magic. They will grow up and perhaps forget, but something of magic will always stay with them.

Samwise: My story has magic in it, too. But it is a darker, more dangerous magic. And it left a mark on every being who touched the Ring. 

Mary: I am sorry to hear that. You have escaped from its clutches?

Samwise: Yes. It was a very near thing, though, for my friend Frodo. And some darkness stayed with him.

Mary: You don't need a nanny, magical or not. What do you need?

Samwise: I need nothing. I came home and married my sweetheart Rosie and we have 13 children. That is all I ever wanted in life.

Mary: I will leave you then. I need to find children who need me. I can see that your children have everything they need with you and Rosie.

Samwise: Farewell. It was interesting meeting you.

Mary: Likewise. 

[Mary Poppins opens her umbrella and sails away into the sky.]

Samwise: Time to go home. I am a most fortunate creature. 

A fanciful conversation

 My prompt today: "Two of your favorite characters from two different books meet. Write a conversation between them. How do they appear and what are they talking about?"

I'm going to choose interesting characters that will have an entertaining conversation (I hope), not necessarily my most favorite characters. 

Lord Peter Whimsey: "Hallo, hallo, hallo, what's all this then?"

Winnie-the-Pooh: "Oh, hello. This  is the Hundred Acre Wood. Would you like some honey?"

Lord Peter: "Err, no. Thank you. [looking around] I have no idea how I came here."

Pooh: "Do you know Christopher Robin?" 

Lord Peter: "Err, no. Should I?"

Pooh: "He is my boy. He is the one who knows the way out of the Hundred Acre Wood. Where did you come from?"

Lord Peter: "I was at my home, playing Bach on my piano. There was a knock on the door, so I got up to answer it. Everything went foggy and here I am. I would like to return to my home."

Pooh: "Ah. The Hundred Acre Wood is a magical place. You should have noticed that you're talking to a bear."

Lord Peter: "Well, yes. That is rather odd. Perhaps it was something I ate. Or drank."

Pooh: "Now you're thinking of Alice. That's a different story altogether."

Lord Peter: "Since I am a detective, I should be able to solve this mystery! Where would I be able to find this Christopher Robin?"

Pooh: "He comes and goes. He is in two worlds, but he knows the way between them. Would you like some honey while we wait for him?"

Lord Peter: "That is very kind of you, but no. You don't happen to have tea, do you?"

Pooh: "No, I don't believe I do."

Silence falls. 

As this conversation progressed, it became obvious that these two particular characters have nothing in common. They might as well be waiting for Godot along with Vladimir and Estragon. We will leave them in the Hundred Acre Wood and hope that Christopher Robin comes soon. 

Top Three Lists

Today's post is inspired by Tammy Evans (https://writertammye.wordpress.com/2024/03/26/top-three-lists-solc24-day26/) who wrote about creating Top Three lists.

Museums

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Louvre

MOMA

Desserts

carrot cake

chocolate mousse

pecan pie

Beaches

Todd's Point (also known as Greenwich Point), Connecticut

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Santa Monica, California

Places to read

Living room sofa

Train

Coffee Shop

Animals

Cats

Penguins

Lions

Cookbooks (current favorites)

Moosewood Cooks at Home

Isa Does It

The Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking

Children's Books

The Return of the Twelves

From the Mixed Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

A Wrinkle in Time

Television Shows

Star Trek, the Original Series

Start Trek, The Next Generation

The West Wing

What do my lists say about me? One thing pops out - I seem to be a vegetarian. (I do eat fish though.) And I really like Star Trek. I was not able to list my top three adult books -- there are just too many that I love.