Close Friends

Hold a true friend with both your hands. ~Nigerian proverb

Once

You were

The center

Of my world and

My prized possession.

Then I put you aside

For years — no, make that decades.

You never complained nor did you

Seem to resent my indifference.

But good friends shouldn’t be treated that way.

It was a silver flute that caught my eye.

Learning to play it became my goal.

But I don’t have to choose, do I?

Playing both instruments would

Make me more valuable.

Now that you’ve been fixed

I’m going to hold

Both of you

Near my

Heart.

Note: Poetry form is a Double Etheree.

Physician, Heal Thyself!

In our busy 21st century life the one commodity that seems to be going extinct is time and we forget that healing takes time. ~Dr. Frank Lipman, Functional Medicine leader

Over the weekend, I went to our local urgent care center to have someone examine my still-hurting arm.

I’d heard dire warnings from other musicians about letting these aches and pains slide untended, and I figured I needed a referral to physical therapy, sports medicine, or orthopedics.

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Playing With Pain

The first wealth is health. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher, and poet

One drawback of playing in a small musical group is that every musician is “exposed” and every part is important.

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That’s Music??

Here’s to Music,
Joy of joys!
One man’s music’s
Another man’s noise.
~Oliver Herford
, English writer and illustrator

Monkey here.

I’m here to complain LOUDLY about that thing Mama calls a flute.

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Sudden Joy

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet, writer, and more

Because of the pandemic, I’m still having my flute lessons outdoors.

In a public park, six feet away from my teacher.

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Conquering Fear

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. ~John Henry Newman, English theologian and poet

Because of the pandemic, I haven’t had a flute lesson in months, and I’ve missed it.

It’s bad enough practicing the same pieces assigned to me back in early March; but knowing that I might have slipped into bad form/habits without somebody to supervise me is worrisome.

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One, Two, Three…

If I were to begin life again, I would devote it to music. It is the only cheap and unpunished rapture upon earth. ~Sydney Smith, English writer and cleric

Speaking metronome

Helps keep my rhythms even.

Apps for everything!

 

I’m working on a particularly tricky sonatina by a Danish composer in my flute lessons this summer.

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Stirring Sounds

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach, German-Jewish poet and author

The Thunderer (Concert March) by John Philip Sousa

We’re midway through the season for Community Band now, and I find myself pondering its attraction.

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