Encore!

Once in a while, as I'm plugging through life trying to get the necessaries done, I get to check off something on my "bucket list." For me, that list of things I want to do before I die includes a lot of big ticket items--travel to foreign lands, learning other languages, getting a doctorate, making a difference in the lives of the people I meet.

Once in a while, an experience comes along that's so simple, so pure, I never would have thought to put it on my list. But as soon as it happens, I know it was supposed to be there, to experience that moment and to feel just a little more alive.

4 minutes. Me, my violin student and a room full of strangers.

And Itzhak Perlman playing the Theme from Schindler's List. No microphones or amplifiers, just the pure, sweet notes of the master violist telling the story of his people through his art.

4 minutes well-spent.

Encore.

If You See Santa...

...would you tell him thank you?

He arranged for a piano tuner to come and now, not only do we have a perfectly tuned piano, we also spent a lovely afternoon learning from a very interesting man.

Rodger has been tuning piano for 24 years, but his mother drove him to work on Monday. That's because Rodger, like most (if not all) of the piano tuners in our area, is blind. He is a master at his job, able to hear the tones of the piano above ongoing conversations, ringing phones and humming children.

He treated us to a couple of beautiful pieces before he left and promised to return if anything slips out of tune. If you want to know how to reach Rodger, drop me a line and I'll give you his number.

So, if you see Santa, would you thank him for us? He gave a beautiful gift.

Name That Tune

I've known for a long time that different songs share the same tune. The ABC Song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Baa Baa Black Sheep, for example, all roll along to the same notes.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic has been used as a tune for all kinds of irreverent songs.

Here's one I'd never noticed before.

I may never march in the infantry,
ride in the cavalry,
shoot the artillery.
I may never fly o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army!

And, equally fun to sing, but not in church...

Great big globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped up parakeet.
Alligator eyes swimming in a pool of blood,
and I forgot my spoon!

I'll never be able to sing the first song again without ending it with, "But I remembered my straw!"

Inch By Inch

The garden is planted. Sigh. All those seeds tucked nice and warm in their little garden beds wait for the right moment to wake up.

Inch by Inch
Row by Row
Oh to make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
and a piece of fertile ground.

Inch by inch
Row by Row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
While the rain comes tumbling down.

The Garden Song by David Mallett, as sung by Pete Seeger

As I planted and dug and hoed, I found myself humming the song above (as I do every year when I plant or weed). Pete Seeger's music is planted in me nearly as deeply as "Jesus Loves Me."

We had a Pete Seeger record-- yes, I said a record-- that was probably played more than any other 33 in history. Even now, strains of "This Land is Your Land" and "Skip to My Lou" make me tear up with nostalgia.

But my favorite Pete Seeger song, then and now, says "Mother be Quick, I'm Gonna be Sick and Lay Me Down to Die."

What's your favorite song from childhood?