Me and My Guitar Part II: Kumbaya (Sort Of)

After my aborted introduction to playing a musical instrument (the accordion, aka "The Refrigerator") ended with my broken left wrist at around age 10 or 12,  for a number of years my only experience at playing music was "Chopsticks" and the first few bars of "Blue Moon" on available pianos. I frankly can't recall how or when I learned to play these, but their simplicity as well as the keyboard similarity to a concert accordion made it pretty easy to do.  However, although I like listening to piano music very much,  I never had any interest in playing it seriously.

Fast forward to college days.  A couple of my new friends played the guitar.  And not tunes like "Turkey in the Straw" that I had played on my accordion or "Chopsticks" on shared pianos, but songs by very popular folk performers of the time (the 60's) like The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joan Biaz, Pete Seiger, Judy Collins, The New Christy Minstrels (youngsters, please use Google to identify these people).  The guitar was an instrument that drew positive attention whenever it was played in a dorm room or at an informal gathering, and those who knew how to play it were admired and exuded "coolness."  This was way different (i.e., better) than the accordion and I wanted to learn to play it.

My friends taught me a few basic cords and strumming techniques on their guitars, and I would borrow an instrument to practice whenever I could.  But I couldn't afford to buy my own guitar and I never got beyond a very rudimentary level of playing.  My chord changes were slow, awkward, and sloppy.  I became aware that my left wrist had a permanent limitation that was probably the result of a lack of physical therapy after my childhood break (the expert therapy available today would undoubtedly have led to a better outcome).  This made certain chord positions very difficult for me and to this day they present special challenges to playing. Nevertheless, I was able to produce some pleasing sounds and even managed a halting rendition of a couple of cheesy songs -- "Kumbaya," and "Wayfarin' Stranger."  My informal lessons and playing sessions didn't get me very far in terms of mastering the guitar, but they showed me that it was possible to really enjoy playing a musical instrument -- something that had never happened with the accordion.

Aria AC-6, Age 50+

Fast forward past school days to the early 70's.  My wife bought me what has turned out to be one of the most enduring and impactful gifts ever -- my own guitar.  This was in 1972 or 1973, and I still have it today, almost 50 years later (!).  In those early days we were just starting out and didn't have a lot of money to spend on something like this, but nevertheless she got me a very good "entry-level" guitar -- an Aria AC-6 classical acoustic model that she bought with the advice of the owner of our local musical instrument store.  The Aria company is still in business, and their guitars generally get pretty good reviews. Mine has the advantage that age has given it a deep, mellow resonance that only comes from guitar geezerhood.

I'm afraid I didn't do my gift justice, however. I was fully absorbed in my career,  as well as working around our new house, and indulging our passion for travel. Guitar playing was not a high priority but I would occasionally get it out and try to recover what little skill I had achieved earlier.  I couldn't remember the chords to any tunes, but in trying to reproduce them I discovered that just noodling around and faking it could sound pretty good.  I also found that playing for playing's sake, without regard for looking "cool" or emulating a popular performer, was very satisfying.

If I would have had more time and commitment I might have approached learning the guitar in a more formal and structured way by taking lessons from someone.  However, my childhood experience with the accordion left me with an aversion to playing scales and practicing the same thing over and over.  Although this might have led to a higher level of proficiency than I have now, it is more likely the guitar would have joined my accordion in that great music store in the sky -- in the Used Instrument Section.

So, for the next 30 years my guitar and I had a sort of "companionable neglect" relationship.  Every once in a while I would get it out and together we would amiably explore my incompetence.  I always liked these sessions, though, and vowed at the end of each to do them more often -- but then didn't follow through.  Even after I retired it took another 15 years before I finally began to give my guitar playing a real chance to develop.  It has turned out to be one of the most positive aspects of my Geezerhood, but not in a way I could have predicted, as I'll try to explain next time.

Next up -- I discover why the guitar is often described as a very "personal" instrument.

Techno-Trauma, Not-So-Nice Normal

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

3/27/21

Aloha Everyone –

Is spring sprung yet?  Actually, we have signs of our own change of seasons.  The baby Nenes are full grown (Karen hit one with a golf ball on Tuesday– no injury), the Plumeria are starting to bloom again, and the high surf has shifted to the east side of the island.  About as noticeable to a visitor as the difference between the Hawaiian word for flower (pua) and pig (pua’a).

On Tuesday afternoon a true crisis hit our house.  Our wireless router crapped out and all of our devices

NOT mine

that weren’t either on cellular data connections or hard-wired to the internet were suddenly techno-bricks. Imagine the hardship! This called for a swift solution, needless to say. Now, for most of you on the mainland this would mean a quick trip to one of the several techno-toy stores nearby to pick up a replacement and either arrange for someone to help switch to the new router or to do it yourself.  Here we have far fewer choices and the selection is comparatively limited, so this was much more of a problem.  After some cursory online research to update myself on the latest developments in routers, I realized I had a dilemma – either a pick up whatever was available locally without a thorough study of the alternatives, or order one online and wait at least a week. There is no such thing as same-day delivery from Amazon here, and 2nd Day Air service costs a fortune. On Wednesday morning I set out to see what I could get locally and found that for not much money I could buy a router on sale that was the current version of the brand and model I have now.  So I decided to buy it and see how well it worked, then do more research and if necessary order a fancier replacement online.  By mid-afternoon I had un-bricked most devices and by yesterday I had *nearly* everything connected and working (you’d be surprised/dismayed by the number of wireless devices we have around the house).  Techno-trauma averted!!!

The router that crapped out was a pretty high-end one when I bought it seven or so years ago.  My emergency research revealed an interesting picture of modern society – one of the major feature of today’s versions (and corresponding cost) is how many devices they can handle that are simultaneously streaming high-bandwith content.  The image is of each parent and possibly each of two or more kids cocooned in separate rooms video-chatting, streaming their favorite music, or watching different movies or tv programs at the same time.  A far cry from the single 300-baud dial-up connection, eh?

The other big news is that our tourist numbers are up considerably.  According to an article in yesterday’s local paper, 36k tourists came to our island in February, about 3300 arriving on Thursday alone.  So far, thanks to our double test requirement of arriving with a negative Covid test result and then taking another test at the airport upon arrival, we have kept the virus under control.  The uptick in tourism is very good for our economy, of course, with more people working and many venues opening up again.  This return to even partial normality has some downsides, however – traffic on our measly one highway that transports workers and tourists is jammed again in the mornings and afternoons, popular beaches are getting crowded, reservations at restaurants are essential again, and grocery stores in town are often out of all kinds of items (remember, everything is brought in by container ships every couple of days, so it may take a while to restock).  The lesson I guess is that “normal” is a balance of good and bad, though people tend to remember only the good.

Take care.  Enjoy your spring and stay healthy.

Nose Tweak, Toe Attack, Blind Drilling

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

3/20/21

 Aloha All –

You may remember that last week I went into detail as to why our side of the island seldom gets a lot of rain, sparing us from the floods that hit the windward side.  Nature heard me and tweaked my nose by proceeding to drop 1.65" of rain that day at our house, as measured by my garden rain gauge.  We aborted our usual Saturday market stop and beach breakfast picnic, and didn’t emerge from the house for the rest of the day – except for one time when I had to clear our driveway drain in front of our garage that was clogged up, creating a lake.  I can still claim vindication, however, because the Hilo side got something like 18".  We haven’t got much rain since, but the afternoons have been cloudy with just enough rain to be a pain.                

Predator in Paradise

Speaking of pain, on Wednesday we were just finishing our lunch by the pool and I was carrying my dishes back into the house when my fork jumped out of my hand and landed tines down on one of my toes. As usual I was just wearing flip flops, so my feet were bare. Therefore this hurt a lot.  Really a lot.  A WHOLE lot.  AN AWFUL LOT! It also drew a little blood, though not much.  I quickly washed the toe and put on antiseptic, but I didn’t have to bandage it and the pain subsided enough to not bother me much for the rest of the day.  However, that evening as we began watching tv the pain returned and this time it felt like I might have broken the toe.  I couldn’t flex it without excruciating pain, and it seemed to be swelling.  I put an ice pack on it for an hour or so and that helped, and with the help of a couple of doses of Ibuprofen I slept ok. Thursday the pain was better, although I still couldn’t flex the toe. The pain went away as the day wore on, and I was able to work out at PF with the exception of one machine.  I now think it wasn’t broken, but that one joint had became inflamed and caused the pain.  Today all seems ok, but I’m remaining cautious around predatory silverware.
                    
My big house project this week was replacing the approximately 25-year old blinds in our upper guest room (they were here when we moved in, so I’m just guessing as to their age).  These are the horizontal slat kind, which are nice here because they can be adjusted for privacy and still allow air to flow through the windows. We had to special order these because they have to be custom cut to fit our specific windows.  The first hurdle was to make sure they really did fit into the openings, and it was a relief to find they did.  The next challenge was actually mounting them.  Naturally, the old brackets couldn’t be reused, so I had to drill new holes for the mounting screws.  This is usually a piece of cake, but in the bathroom it meant drilling 10 holes through the stone tile that lined the window openings.  Tough enough, but it had to be done standing in an awkward position while maintaining a lot of pressure on the drill.  I got it done, but I really needed that Planet Fitness workout to unkink my muscles afterwards.  They’re up and look very nice, a slightly lighter color than before, and *seem* to be secure..... Of course, this gave us the opportunity to clean the windows and the surrounding areas, so we’re still finishing putting everything back together.  Oh, I should mention that these blinds are a favorite spot for our geckos, who like to lie on the open slats.  I’m sure it won’t take long before they occupy the new ones.

That’s about it for the week.  Hope you have all dug out and that your weather has once again lulled you into thinking spring has come (note, my nose tweak hasn’t dulled my meanness).  Take care.  Stay safe, warm, and healthy.

Me and My Guitar Part 1: A Refrigerator & A Horizontal Landing

[Note:  This is the first in a 3-part series of autobiographical blogs about my unusual encounter with a guitar. The other installments will be available over irregular intervals.]

 

Let me tell you about my accordion, an instrument whose only commonality with a guitar is that they both make sounds. I know, this blog is about guitars and we'll get there eventually, trust me.  But first some context and background.

My parents lived through the Great Depression and WWII.  Their experiences of sacrifice and struggle led them to want the best for their children, particularly those things they themselves had been denied. They did everything within their modest means to enrich my childhood and those of my two sisters. This included the decision that we each should learn to play a musical instrument.

They might have chosen any number of things for me to play:  piano, violin, flute, guitar, drums, alto sax.  I'm not sure how they made the decision, but it wasn't any of those.

LOTS of buttons

The instrument selected for me was a concert-style accordion the size of a refrigerator.  I think I was about 10 at the time, and small for my age, so when I wrestled this thing onto my chest I pretty much disappeared except for my scrawny little arms poking out from the sides, and the top of my head sticking out over the top. You've probably seen examples of this kind of accordion -- a keyboard like a grand piano on the right front, and a grid of about 10,000 tiny buttons on the left which are played blind.  It was so heavy for me I had to play it sitting down, and my practice sessions were as much physical workouts as they were musical experiences.

As you can perhaps tell, I wasn't wildly enthusiastic about learning to play the accordion.  Definitely the best part was that I had a crush on my teacher, Miss Dardano, who gave me lessons each week at the music store where my parents had purchased the accordion.  Every Saturday I would board a bus a few blocks from my house for the 45-minute journey to the store.  I didn't take the accordion because it was way too heavy for me to transport, so I borrowed one at the store for my lesson. Miss Dardano was young and gorgeous, at least to my pre-pubescent eyes.  We were in a tiny recital room that brought us breathtakingly close together, though we were separated by the refrigerator in my lap. I felt uncomfortable in her presence but also thrilled.  I tried hard to live up to her expectations, and felt devastated when I didn't -- which was often the case.  Most lessons ended with her admonition to "practice harder next week."

The pinnacle of my musical prowess was learning to play the wonderfully catchy tune "Turkey in the Straw," which I played as part of a group performance with about 20 other budding accordion artists one Saturday.

My accordion-playing career came to a sudden and welcome-though-painful end one summer when I broke my left wrist while playing with neighborhood kids.  I had been trying a simple trick on a high bar and my dismount ended with a horizontal landing. The wrist had to be reset halfway through the healing process, resulting in it being in a cast nearly the entire summer and becoming extremely atrophied.  It became clear to my parents that this ruled out wrestling with a heavy musical instrument for a long time.  The accordion was sold sometime that fall and no more mention of music lessons was made.

I was relieved. Although I certainly had positive feelings for Miss Dardano,  I never developed much fondness for my refrigerator, and playing Turkey in the Straw for my friends didn't exactly put me on the fast track to popularity.  As I look back on it now, however, there were several very positive aspects of my experience.  First, I learned to read music, an exercise that has made me appreciate that written music is a remarkable human development that enables us to transform the wonders of sound into squiggles of ink.  I also gained a deep appreciation for what good musicians are able to do, and I marvel at the level of mastery some of them have achieved with their instruments. My hours of practice to reach even the pitiful level that I managed to achieve makes me profoundly in awe of those who have combined hard work with natural talent to enable them to produce sounds that evoke emotional and cognitive states that can enrich our lives in unquestionably profound ways.  Finally, I think I unconsciously acquired something hard to put into words -- a seed of intuition about how harmonic structure and progression can be combined creatively to produce music that can be entertaining, as perhaps in the case of "Turkey in the Straw,"  but also music that is intensely personal, as I've recently discovered with my guitar.

Next:  Dick meets guitar.

Suggested Reading:
Robert Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, first published in 1974. 

Mountain Saviors, Gecko Survivors

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

3/13/21

Aloha Everyone –

I see from the weather reports that some of you are experiencing a thaw. I remember those days, when finally it feels like Spring is coming.  Then we’d get an Ohio ice storm.

Speaking of weather, it’s very likely you’ve seen news reports of the terrible flooding in Hawaii. Nothing makes for a good video than a torrent of rushing water and a flooded street scene.  It is true that this last week brought some real dumpers to the main islands, including us here on Hawai’i.  However, there are important details the reports usually leave out for our island, particularly which side is getting the flooding.  The real downpours and flooding have been almost entirely on the east side, where Hilo is located.  Here in Kona we’ve gotten almost no rain at all.  This is because the storms are coming from the east/southeast, which is the usual trade wind direction, and we’re on the other side of two 13k ft. volcanoes and under the shadow of another that is 8k.  The moisture is usually dumped on the eastern (windward) side and the western (leeward) side is spared.  This is the case for hurricanes, too.  The typical rainfall on the Hilo side is 180-200 inches per year, but on our side it is about 40 inches, depending on exactly where you are.  Bottom line: no rivers flowing through our streets.  Boring video, but reality is actually often boring.  We certainly can get heavy rainfall at times, as I’ve reported, and in fact this morning starting at about 5 am we’ve had about ½ inch. We may have to adjust our usual beach breakfast outing, but this is nothing in comparison to the windward side.

Typical Trade Wind Pattern

Btw, I recently came across a fascinating website that shows a graphical depiction of the current wind patterns in any location, called Windy.com.  It is very useful for seeing the way our islands influence the stream of air passing by. Take a look.

Speaking of boring, we’re almost back to normal after our tenting. Empty food shelves made a good opportunity to clean the cabinets before putting stuff back and before replacing the long-lost-and-forgotten treasures that were discovered and trashed when we bagged everything. That has taken a lot of time and effort, but it’s a nice feeling to know that the house hasn’t been this clean and organized since we moved in.  It won’t last, of course, and a trip to Costco on Wednesday for a big re-provisioning load was certainly a start.  Outside, nearly all the plants are now back to their normal locations around the house and pool, and I’ve fixed my irrigation lines that I had to move out of harm’s way or that got damaged anyway. And after one week I’m pleased to say that some of our favorite outside geckos have started to reappear.  They are slow and look stunned, but they seem to be recovering.  Unfortunately the two geckos above our kitchen sink also survived and so now we’re on the hunt again.  Recall that we don’t tolerate them inside the house, and we catch them and take them far down the street.  This can take time and effort, though, because there are lots of places for them to hide.  (See More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Geckos for a refresher about our little green friends.)

This week we booked flights for our mainland trip, so everything is all set.  It’s definitely exhilarating to once again look forward to traveling!

Ok, that’s it for the week.  Take care and enjoy your Spring.

Tenting, Vegging, and Re-Combobulating

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

3/7/21

Aloha Everybody –

On Thursday morning about 11:30 the tenting crew showed up and immediately began preliminary work.  We had finally bagged all the food in the refrigerator and chest freezer just before they arrived, opened all the windows, cabinet doors and drawers, hidden our valuables, turned off the propane tank, and packed a few things for our two-nights away from home.  During the week we prepared the outdoors by moving a LOT of potted plants to a gas-free location, making sure bushes were trimmed back, and moving anything else that might be in the way of the tent.  After consulting with the foreman and giving him our keys, we left and went for a workout at Planet Fitness, then had lunch of fried chicken at our local Willies.

The Termite Tent of Doom

On the way to check into the seaside Sheraton we stopped by the house and took some photos.  They were getting close to having the tent on and it looked very weird to see it wrapped like a Christmas present, though the color was appropriately grey/blue.

The Sheraton was very nice.  It’s just four miles from our house, close to where we go to Farmers Market each Saturday. They gave us a room with a beautiful view of Keauhou Bay, with a large lanai where we had a sunset beer. They seem to be making the best of the pandemic situation by catering to locals like us who want a few days away from home, though there were also a fair number of tourists. We made a bee-line for the pool and hot tub, which is also where we spent the next morning and afternoon.  Both nights I slept like a rock, plus took some long naps by the pool. It was very nice, and turned out to be a good preparation for the work of re-combobulation starting with a brief visit home Friday afternoon when the house was cleared to enter (the tent comes off after 12-16 hours, then the house is aired out for another 8 hours). We stopped by just to secure things again and to make sure all was ok.

Saturday we returned about 10:30 am and began the real work of reversing all the preparations we had taken, and this is continuing today as well.  We figure by Wednesday we might be back to normal.  I did find a few things that need  to be fixed, understandable when you consider four guys were hefting big heavy tarps all around the house.  No real complaints so far.

We’re certainly glad to have this behind us, and hope not to ever do it again.  The treatment should be effective in stopping the termites, though it doesn’t prevent them from returning eventually. The proof will be in a few months, which is the time that the termite eggs hatch and emerge as flying insects.  This was really bad last year, but there shouldn’t be any this time.  We’ll see.

Stay warm and healthy. Remember "Spring?"  It's just around the corner, I promise.

Travel Plans and Tent Preps

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

2/27/21

Aloha All –

Well, after more than a year here at home – the longest we’ve spent in one place in many, many years – we’re making plans for a spring trip to the mainland.  One of our bucket list items has been to see Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and to explore that general area, and this seemed like the time to finally do it since international travel would be exceedingly difficult and risky.  The timing will hopefully coincide with the annual blooming of the dogwoods and azaleas and include a heavy dose of some of the highly regarded gardens in that area, including the Biltmore itself. Our plan so far is to fly to Cincinnati, then travel by car to Knoxville for a few days to enjoy the dogwood bloom and some great barbeque.  This part of the itinerary we’ve done before when we lived in Ohio, but it was a quick visit on our way further south.  We will then head for Asheville North Carolina, Charlotte, Boone, and the Smoky Mountain National Park before returning to Asheville and staying for several nights at the Biltmore Estate.  Hopefully the experience will include great scenery, flowers and gardens, and LOTS of really good barbecue. We’ll then return to Ohio for a visit to old friends.  It’s kind of fun making these arrangements again – we’ve really missed it!

The other main focus this week was been our preparations for our termite tenting that is scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.  It turns out there is a fair amount of effort required on our part to get ready.  On Thursday the company dropped off a stack of special plastic bags that are for food items that will be remaining in the house during the fumigation, like stuff in our freezer and refrigerator, plus anything else that the gas might get into, like pasta and cereals.  This is just a precaution – the gas dissipates completely and leaves no residue except for a small amount of fluoride, which I guess might be harmful if ingested in large quantities.  Anyway, for weeks we have been trying to reduce our freezer inventory and thin out the other food so that we won’t have to bag as much.

The other preparations involve the house itself, including cutting back plants from around the house so that the tarps will be close to the foundation and form a tight seal.  Also, the gas is deadly for many kinds of plants, so we’re moving anything we want to keep safe.  Right before the tenting we will turn off our gas supply to the house and also our pool equipment, open all the cabinet doors and windows so the gas can circulate more freely.  Once the gas is introduced nobody can be inside, of course, and since it stays sealed for 12-14 hours, we’ve made arrangements to check into a nearby hotel for the night.  The next day (Friday) the gas is cleared out and the tent is removed, and the house is aired out until it is deemed safe to re-enter. It all sounds a bit scary, but this is done all the time here and it hasn’t led to any casualties that I’m aware of.  The gas breaks down when it mixes with air and this lessens – but doesn’t eliminaste – the negative environmental impact of the fumigation. Companies are not allowed to do this treatment unless there is clear evidence of termite activity, which we have.  Our house was last tented 20 years ago when we bought it.  These are drywood termites, which are much slower than the subterranean type.  In our climate and region it isn’t a matter of IF you get termites, but rather WHEN and How Bad.  Another cost of living in paradise...
 

I didn’t hike this week, but Karen and I did go to Planet Fitness on Thursday.  She also played golf on Monday. Our new Covid 19 cases remained in the single digits again this week, with a couple of 0's and 1's.  The highest I think was 7.  Sure makes things more relaxed.

Ok, that’s it.  Next week’s missive may be a day late because of our tenting discombobulation.
Stay well and hang in there....