Boxes Full of Books

Last night, my friend Tina and her husband came to collect boxes of Braille books to send overseas. Most were headed for a girl in Indonesia, but there were three for a pastor in Malawi.
Braille is expensive, and most countries don’t have very much of it, especially in the developing world. So after [...]

The More the Merrier

Playing the piano is usually a pretty solitary pursuit. But there’s a large body of literature for piano four hands.
In the 1700’s and 1800’s, this literature was for two people playing one instrument. It was perfect for men and women courting each other in “polite” society. They could sit close together, and [...]

Reading for Pleasure

For years, Ted has told me I should read Terry Pratchett, and for years, I’ve said I would but didn’t.
I tried some of his earliest books in Braille, but I couldn’t get into them. Ted would occasionally read me passages in whatever new Pratchett he was exploring, usually after a few minutes of uproarious [...]

Falling in Love with Franz

By all accounts, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) smoked like a chimney, drank like a pirate, had affairs or one night stands with more women than is usual, and wrote a ton of music when he wasn’t partying.
I had played several of his songs in college while accompanying singers. He wrote over six hundred in all, [...]

A Nose for Trouble

Last night, I was curled up in bed, reading, and the two dogs wer sleeping peacefully at my feet on their own beds. Suddenly, Ecko popped up and started sneezing violently and shaking his head.
Ecko is a very scent-driven dog. He’s always sniffing something, so it’s not uncommon for him to sneeze if [...]

Night Visitor

Last night, I took the dogs out for their final walk before bed. It was one of those winter nights when it’s so cold that the snow literally crackles and squeaks under your feet. There was no wind.
Our house is set among trees, and even though we have neighbors close at hand on [...]

Stepping Stones: Smoky Quartz and Chrysoprase

A week ago Monday, I had a very vivid dream about stones. I was given two stones, one light brown and glassy, the other “mint-green” and a smooth, thin slice.
I had never had a dream like that before; I usually don’t dream about stones, let alone have their color described to me by someone [...]

Testing, Testing

Last night, I took the on-line contestant test for “Jeopardy!”. My grandmother always said I should try; we used to play together a lot, making penny bets against each other. If there were questions on nursery rhymes or gardening, I knew I was screwed! And if it had anything to do with [...]

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Most of the time, it’s true, you can’t choose your family, with the exception, perhaps, of who you marry.
It’s also true that families are the source of our best and our worst. They can be unendingly supportive, or they can be clueless about what it is you’ve chosen to do as your life’s work. [...]

Making Progress While Making Changes

Sometimes, learning notes is a two-steps-forward, three-steps-back process. I’ve gone over the same few measures in the Bach toccata I’m learning for several days, and they don’t seem to be sticking.
One problem is that Bach often starts a section in a similar way as he started something earlier in the piece, only to take [...]