Thursday Thoughts

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

They Like Me; They Really Like Me
I complain a fair amount about social media. It’s true I am wholly uninterested in reading about anybody’s political beliefs, no matter their party. I’ve gotten friend requests from people I’ve never heard of, but I simply ignore them, so no harm, no foul. Sorry if it’s from someone I should know, but I’m 62 years old and while I can remember my best friend’s phone number from nearly 50 years ago, I can’t remember the name of the people I met yesterday. But here’s something I DO like about social media. In the past few months, I have connected up via Facebook with some old friends from high school. They don’t post much, nor do I (except for my daily blog post), but I hear from some of them once in a while either on Facebook or my blog, and I simply LOVE that. After my post yesterday, one of those long-lost friends posted a comment in which he provided a tip that he thought might help me with my health issues. It seriously made me tear up. How nice to have friends from that long ago who care enough to take time to comment on my silly blog. Thanks to all of you who are paying attention to me still after all these years!

Hungry
After no food the day before and a process through which I cleared my digestive system fully in preparation for yesterday’s procedure, I woke up yesterday morning feeling tired and cranky. Even Bill noticed the difference. He’s used to the cranky part, but I’m generally well-rested. I told him I wasn’t quite sure what to expect following the appointment. But the good news is once the procedure was completed, I was given the go ahead to eat anything I wanted. We drove quickly to our favorite little breakfast spot – a family-owned café called The Little Kitchen — and got in under the gun for breakfast. Because I was breaking the fast. Get it? I’m not sure when I’ve had a meal that tasted so good to me. I was unable to take anything by mouth yesterday morning prior to the procedure (which meant no food, no water, and NO COFFEE!). After breakfast, and three cups of coffee, I was a new woman. Well, not new, really, but the old woman that Bill is used to. Here’s proof that I enjoyed the breakfast….

Would You Like to Buy Some Girl Scout Cookies?
That is how I’m greeted coming out of nearly every store I visit these days. The girls are always so adorable, but I am forced to explain to them that I have two granddaughters who are Girl Scouts, and if I bought my cookies from someone other than them, there would be hell to pay. As it is, I purchased five boxes of Girl Scout cookies from Kaiya and five boxes of Girl Scout cookies from Maggie Faith. Both girls either Face Timed me or telephoned me and gave me their pitch. Thanks to both mommies who took the time to send them to me. Now I am faced with the problem of having given up sweets for Lent. But never fear, they are being safely stored in the freezer until Easter Sunday when the Lord will rise and I can eat Girl Scout cookies. Well, except for the Thin Mints, which Bill has slowly and secretly devoured. No problem, because they are my least favorite. But has anyone tried the new Savanna Smiles? They are like crack, I’m telling you. I had a couple before Ash Wednesday, and they are irresistible. The good news? Bill wouldn’t touch a lemon cookie with a 10-foot pole, so they are all mine, mine, mine. After Easter, that is. A peek at my freezer….

Speaking of Easter…..
I made a darling crocheted Easter basket that I am selling in my Etsy shop for a mere $15. Here are a couple of photos….

Remember to stop by my shop when you have a chance. It’s called Nanas Whimsies Shop (no apostrophe, which offends my writer’s sensibility, but I’m not King of Etsy), and here’s the link.

Ciao!

24Feb2016

Hungry

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

Clear liquid diet

I spent yesterday fasting. Not for religious reasons, I’m afraid. Nor am I doing a cleansing or starting an unpleasant sort of diet to lose weight.

I fasted because of a medical procedure being done today. While the procedure is nothing serious, it requires that there not be one single solitary thing in my digestive system. And there really is only one way to make that happen, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

Not eating isn’t anything new to me, what with my stomach issues and all. Every time I go into the hospital, I start a regiment of no food or liquid by mouth. In fact, when I was in the hospital for that whole month in February of 2011, for most of the time I was NPO, which stands for nil per os, Latin for damn, I’m hungry.

When fasting in the hospital, they give me all of my necessary nutrients via the IV, of course. That time, however, because of the extended length of time, they had to start giving me all sorts of unexpected things. The oddest was what they referred to as lipids, but what looked to this nonmedical civilian as bacon fat, pure and simple. And frankly, it might have been. Apparently humans can’t be healthy without some fat.

The thing is, when I’m in the hospital, not eating doesn’t really bother me that much. I think that’s true for a couple of reasons, the primary being that I’m on so much pain medication that really nothing bothers me too much. They could bring in a Weber and begin grilling steaks in front of me and I would be nodding off. The other thing is that when I’m in the hospital, it’s because I simply don’t feel well, and so eating is not top of mind. During the aforementioned month in the hospital, Bill would come in (with my permission) with entire pizza pies that he would eat in front of me. The nurses used to give him a hard time, but the reality is that I wasn’t one bit hungry, though it had been weeks since I’d had a bite to eat.

Having said that, I will tell you that seeings as I feel perfectly fine, thank you very much, I was hungry yesterday. And you know how when you’re on a diet, you crave anything that has calories? When I’m on a diet, a carrot stick is wholly uninteresting, but I would eat a cardboard box if I knew it was full of calories and bad for me. Well, yesterday I couldn’t think about anything but food. That was it. Food. And this is a true story. Around 11 o’clock in the morning, I was trying to change out some cushions on our outdoor furniture, and I kept thinking about how weak I felt. I didn’t think I would have the strength to complete the job. I wasn’t sure I had the will to live. Please understand that I never even eat lunch before noon, and on a good day I might have a piece of peanut butter on toast for breakfast. Apparently that tablespoon of peanut butter on a single piece of toast gives me the strength of Hercules.

Talk about my mind playing games with me. Oy vey.

At any rate, my diet yesterday consisted of a glass or two of water every hour so that I would not pass out from dehydration, a couple of cups of chicken bouillon, and four or five little containers of jello. I will confess to you all that for my purposes yesterday, I considered my one gin-and-tonic at 5:30 to be a clear liquid. It’s liquid. It’s clear. I went without the lime. I wasn’t on any pain medication. Boom. Don’t tell my doctor.

With any luck, next time I see the doctor, he will have a better idea of how to keep me out of the hospital by looking at my test results, and my fast will have had a purpose.

23Feb2016

It Was a Zoo Out There

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

Last time Jen was here visiting, she and Maggie took Austin and Lilly to the zoo. From that day on, Jen has been telling me that I absolutely MUST go to the zoo with Lilliana Marie Eve. She takes after our side of the family. She loves her some zoo.

Bill and I are members of two zoos – the Denver Zoo and the Phoenix Zoo. Both of my memberships are well used. I’ve been taking Kaiya and Mylee to the zoo since they were both very little. I haven’t had the chance to take Cole yet, because, well, Volkswagen Bug. No room for three in the back seat. Somehow I’m determined to make it happen this summer when we are back in Denver. The last time I Face Timed with Kaiya, she told me she is learning about animals at school. At that point she had learned about pandas and tigers.

“Tell me something about tigers,” I said.

“Hmmm,” she said. “Well, their paws are very padded so that they can sneak up on the animals they eat,” she finally declared.

Well, there you go. It will be fun to take her to the zoo and have her tell me about the animals. I assure you, I will learn a lot.

Yesterday, Jen’s final day for this visit, we went to the zoo. Bec joined us, and we had a grand time. Austin scored big as he got permission to play hooky from school. Well, preschool. I don’t think he will have to face a truant officer.

Jen is right about Lilly. She can hardly stand still as she sees the animals. As for Austin, he considered it more of a rolling snack cart as Maggie pulled him in the wagon and he ate pretzels and fruit snacks and goldfish crackers and drank red Gatorade until his lips turned red. He could be persuaded to get out of the cart for particularly interesting animals like orangutans, but it wasn’t until the carousel that he really perked up.

Lilly wanted to ride a giraffe on the carousel and Austin wanted to ride a shark. As it turned out, Lilly rode a leopard and Austin rode an alligator, but it was all good. And like a good daughter, Lilly waved at her mommy every single time her leopard passed by. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be a beauty pageant contestant. Or the pope.

It was a splendid day that ended with homemade pancakes for lunch. What could be better?

Here are some photos of our day….

Lilly and Austin can’t take their eyes off one of the animals.

And here’s what caught their eye — a vulcher is standing as still as a statue with its wings spread wide…

Lilly and Aunt Bec check out the African savannah.

We had us some carousel!

22Feb2016

Abraham

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

Dad died in November of 2010. All of his grandkids and some of his great grandkids attended his funeral. It so happened that four of his grandkids had babies not too long before he died, bringing the total number of great grands at that time to 10. I remember four mommies standing in the back of the church bouncing Asher, Austin, Mylee, and Jenna, to keep them from crying. I could imagine my mother in heaven smiling.

We were happy as we all learned of the upcoming births earlier that year. But what I really recall about that joyous news was that Jen told our father, “Dad, you’re like Abraham. You have descendants like the stars in heaven.”

She, of course, was referring to the Book of Genesis when God told Abram, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be.”

Now there are a total of 14 great grandkids, ranging in age from 1 to almost 11. So between those 14 great grands and his four kids and nine grandkids, he really was like Abraham. And we are all like the stars in his heaven.

I’ve mentioned before that it makes me sad to think that my mother didn’t get a chance to meet any of her great grands. She would have loved them all. Dad certainly did, and enjoyed being around them until he was too sick to enjoy very much. I have a vivid memory, however, of bringing my granddaughter Kaiya to visit him when she was just a baby. As an infant, Kaiya didn’t much like being with people she didn’t know well. But that day she sat on Dad’s lap and he spoke quietly to her saying words that I couldn’t hear, and she didn’t make a peep. She just stared intently into his face. It was like she understood every word he was saying. That’s a great memory.

Yesterday afternoon, Jen and Bill and I hosted a gathering of family in honor of Jen’s visit. I’m happy to say that just like Field of Dreams, when it comes to family gatherings, if we build it they will come. With a few exceptions, the family poured into our little house in Mesa and gathered! Food, laughter, Coronas and bloody marys, NASCAR, carne asada, guacamole, Maggie’s green chile, Christopher’s smoked pork butt – we had it all.

And as she often does, Jen had a great idea. Let’s commemorate the great grands in a visible way, she said.

So the cousins who were present all used their individual artistic ability to design their own tile. The ones who weren’t able to be there will get their chance as well. When all are completed, we will bake them to make the design permanent, and display them in some manner.

We managed to get the kids to sit still long enough to take this photo. Painfully shy Jenna is trying to hide in the back row, and her sister Lexi, newly out of the hospital where she spent almost a week because of an infection that wouldn’t budge, is crying heartily, none too happy to be away from her mommy for too long.

But you know, the photo shows Mom and Dad were, indeed, like Abraham, and their descendants are like the stars in heaven.

Left to right: Noah, Jenna, Lexi, Austin, Kelsie, Grace, Faith, Asher, Lilly. Not present are Mackenzie, Carter, Kaiya, Mylee, and Cole.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

20Feb2016

Saturday Smile: When Dinos Walked the Earth

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

There is a time in almost everyone’s life — somewhere around the age of 3 or 4, when they get fascinated by dinosaurs. Let’s face it. Dinosaurs are an amazing phenomenon that simply tickles our fancy. Frankly I’m still fascinated.

So when our grandson Joseph (now 6-1/2, and don’t ask me how THAT ever happened) was in the age group, he loved dinosaurs, as he still does, I think. Anyway, because of his love of these ancient creatures, when it came time to select his pajamas for Christmas, I chose pjs featuring a T-Rex.

Earlier this week, I got a text and photo from Heather telling us that 3 year old Micah has graduated into Joseph’s dinosaur pjs, and apparently wears them gladly and proudly. She sent this photo….

Since both boys have been sick, it made me purely happy to see Micah’s big smile.

Have a great weekend.

19Feb2016

Friday Book Whimsy: The Nightingale

Posted in Book Reviews, Whimsies by kzmclain

When a reader picks up a book about World War II, you pretty much know that it’s going to be difficult reading. Sometimes I wonder why we read such stories when they are so hard to comprehend and so utterly impossible to imagine. I guess the answer is that we read them so that we never forget what must be considered one of the most horrific periods in history.

So I knew when I picked up The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah that it wouldn’t be a light and breezy read. But it offered (and delivered) a look at the war from a new perspective – not the Jews who were persecuted and killed in or barely survived concentration camps but the rest of the European population who suffered immensely as a result of the Nazi regime.

What’s more, The Nightingale also offered a look at the war from the women’s perspective. Not nurses or others who participated directly in the war effort but those who were left behind to try and keep the world turning and their families safe.

Vianne and Isabelle are sisters who live in the Loire region of France. They haven’t had an easy time of it because their mother died shortly after their father returned from serving in WWI. The war changed him forever and he turned his back on his daughters.

The two took different paths in life – Vianne falling in love, marrying and having a daughter; Isabelle not able to find peace at one boarding school after another. When the Nazis invade France, both women experience the war in very different – but equally important – ways.

Hannah’s descriptions of the lives of the two women is vivid and graphic – and horrifying. The book took me by storm. I couldn’t put it down, but I found it hard to bear as I read.

The book is told from three perspectives – Isabelle’s (who becomes a resistance fighter), and Vivianne (who nearly loses everything trying to keep her family (and others) alive. The third perspective is contemporary and the reader isn’t sure whether it’s Vianne or Isabelle who is narrating that perspective.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It is a story I will long remember.

Here is a link to the book.

18Feb2016

Thursday Thoughts

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

Rigatony’s Restaurant

You Can’t Have Too Much Eye-Talian
Despite how it may seem, Bill and I rarely get to the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. And yet, two days in a row we have been there. As you will recall, the other day we went on a field trip to Portillo’s and did a couple of other errands. Yesterday we went to IKEA, the only one of which is in Tempe. A Facebook friend, taking note of our trip to Portillo’s, suggested we go to a restaurant called Rigatony’s if we are ever in the area where it is located. (The restaurant’s name, by the way, is correctly spelled, a clever take on the proprietor’s name, I assume.) I looked up the restaurant and lo, and behold, it was only a couple of miles from IKEA. We went and were extremely delighted that it was a wonderful family-style Italian restaurant with delicious food. We were very surprised, however, to see that it was also very busy, even at 12:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday. A half hour wait. Well worth it. I love nice surprises, especially when they have to do with food.

Schmorganborgan
The days tick by and it gets closer and closer to the time at which Jen moves to AZ for good (date yet unknown). Every so often, Bill and I begin to get nervous about where everything will go when the already-full house needs to absorb another person with her own stuff. While a trip to IKEA can’t entirely solve the problem, organization can’t hurt. So we bought a couple of different things yesterday that will hold some of our stuff, thereby making more room in the den and getting things off of our bedroom floor. I am the poster child for “if you have a free space, stuff will be put there,” but I am determined to go through our things, figure out what we really need, and then figure out where to store it. What we don’t really need will go to Goodwill. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, so they say. A walk through IKEA is good for my soul. It puts steps on my Fitbit, and I get a chance to see some of the Swedish names for their furniture. It makes me feel like the Swedish chef on The Muppets.

Make Yourself at Home
Speaking of Jen, she arrived yesterday afternoon to spend a few days with her grands – oh, and her daughter and siblings too. Bill loves to torture her by greeting her with something along the lines of “Hi Jen, welcome to Arizona. Make yourself at home.” Given that she pays half the mortgage, she is oh-so-amused by his greeting.

Aarf
I recorded, and then sat and watched, the 140^th Westminster Dog Show, something I

Court poses with our Miniature Schnauzer (who wouldn’t win a dog show) Fritz.

try to do each year if I can remember that it falls sometime around Valentine’s Day. I like to see all of the different dogs, though I root for my favorite – the Miniature Schnauzer. This year the little bearded Schnauzer actually made it as one of the runners up in the Terrier group. Recording the program is a must so that you can fast forward through all of the interviews (with the owners, not the dogs) and all of the stories about how the dogs are groomed (why, oh why, do they make some of the dogs look so ridiculous). One of my favorite moments was when one of the dogs – I don’t remember which, though it was a larger dog – decided fame wasn’t quite as important as those goodies that were in his handler’s pocket and turned naughty and just kept jumping and biting the pocket instead of walking quietly next to the handler. As you might expect, he was not selected as Best in Show. Instead, it was the German Shorthaired Pointer, who beat out others who were more favored.

Ciao.

17Feb2016

Sunny Day in Paradise

Posted in Main Course, Meat Dishes, Recipes by kzmclain

Bill and I woke up yesterday morning, happy that it was Tuesday which meant we didn’t have to go to the gym, and with no particular plans for the day.

“What do you have on your schedule today?” I ask him every single morning despite the fact that I know the answer is “nothing particular” seeings as we’re retired. Although I should recall that the answer could be, “I plan to make a four-tiered lemon-and-rosemary flavored wedding cake using homemade fondant accented by the fresh roses I have been growing in the greenhouse I secretly built in the back yard.” You never know with Bill McLain. As Lucy (of Peanuts fame) would say, of all the Bill McLains in the world, he’s the Bill McLainiest.

But he didn’t surprise me, and his answer was “nothing particular.”

“Why don’t we take a field trip to Tempe, drive by Sloan Park (spring home of the Cubbies), have lunch at Portillo’s, and stop by Jo-Ann’s Fabrics so I can buy some yarn?” I said, the final part said under my breath with the hope that he stopped listening after I said lunch at Portillo’s. He had.

It has been extraordinarily nice for the past couple of weeks. I know I can’t brag too much, because I think it has been quite nice in Colorado as well, and while everyone expects it to be in the 80s in Phoenix, high 50s/low 60s in Colorado is a special treat. Still, a day doesn’t go by that I’m not grateful for the warm sunshine and the beautiful flowers. Look, for example, at the bougainvillea bush in our backyard…..

When we got here a month or so ago, the bush looked like it was on its last legs. It was spindly and it had few flowers. What a difference some warm weather makes.

Anyway, the nice weather called to us, and the day was fun. There were many, many folks at Sloan Park. I think maybe the Cubs pitchers and catchers are going to report any day now, and methinks a few might have been there already, judging from the number of people with their heads plastered against the fence looking into the practice fields. We also saw a number of kids with autograph books shoved into the front drivers’ side window of an SUV with tinted windows, and I don’t think the driver was a member of the maintenance crew!

Portillo’s, of course, is a wonderful family restaurant based in Chicago. In the past few years, they opened a couple of them here in the East Valley – the one very near Sloan Park (no surprise there) and another in Scottsdale, just a stone’s throw from Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies.

Portillo’s has All Things Chicago, but Bill and I go for the Italian beef sandwiches every time. Bill gets his wet (which means they pour the gravy on the sandwich) with sweet peppers; I get mine dipped (which means they literally dip the entire sandwich in the gravy) with hot peppers. There are advantages and disadvantages to getting the sandwich dipped, the biggest disadvantage being IT IS A SLOPPY MESS THAT MAKES YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU NEED TO GO HOME AND TAKE A SHOWER. But yummy.

One of my goals for Lent was to eat simpler. One way I thought we could do that was to serve soup one night a week. I decided last night was a good night to do that since we’d had a sizable lunch. I’ve been meaning to make my mom’s vegetable beef soup for some time now, and I took the plunge last night.

Here is my mom’s recipe, verbatim from her recipe card…..

Vegetable Beef Soup, courtesy Marg Gloor

Cook 2 beef shanks in approximately 6 cups water with 1 chopped onion, 1 stalk celery, 1 c. cabbage; add parsley, salt to taste, pinch of leaf oregano, leaf thyme, and a bay leaf, also a small can of Del Monte stewed tomatoes. Cook 1 hour, then add carrots and potatoes. About 15 min. before serving, add noodles.

Nana’s Notes: I modified the recipe a bit. I browned the beef shanks in a Dutch oven, then added 6 c. water to the beef. I also added 1 chopped onion; 1 stalk celery, chopped; and the same herbs. I let that cook for about 2-1/2 hours until the meat was very tender and fell off the bone. I removed the bones and returned the cut-up meat to the liquid. I added a can of diced tomatoes, one diced potato, a couple of chopped carrots, and a can of green beans (because that’s what I had on hand). I didn’t add cabbage because I’m not supposed to eat cabbage on my new low-fiber diet. I cooked the noodles separately and added them at the end. It was very good, and the first taste made me think of Mom.

16Feb2016

A Little Bit Country

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

I told you in a blog post six or seven months ago that I listen only to sports radio in my car. What I have subsequently learned is that I listen to sports radio in my car mostly during football season, and mostly when I’m in Denver. In fact, I haven’t yet quite figured out which radio stations are sports stations here in AZ. We have three or four in Denver, and given the fervor of sports fans in the Phoenix area, I would assume there are several here as well.

So what I find myself listening to in its stead is country music. If you would have told me, say, 30 years ago that I would ever be listening to country music, I would have been quite surprised. I’m not sure why, because beginning in my late 20s and early 30s, I listened to a lot of music from groups like the Eagles, Poco, and Pure Prairie League, all of which are just a hair away from country music.

As I got older, I found myself listening to groups like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I became more and more drawn to bluegrass artists such as Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent. I even found I liked Johnny Cash. Yes, folks. I heard the train a’comin’. It was about then that I figured I needed a support group.

Hi, my name is Kris. (Hi Kris.) I like country music. (The first step is admitting you have a problem. And at least you can have a shot and a beer with your music.)

Now there’s almost no country music I won’t listen to. I’m a country music ho.

Perhaps even more surprising, however, is that my sister Bec has also become a fan of country music, something I would never have thought would happen. I’m not certain, but I don’t even think it was a gradual thing for her. She simply moved to Arizona and turned on KMLE Country @107.9, and the rest is history. Thankfully, the only pickup truck in her family belongs to her son.

I like her explanation, however. She is nostalgic about the music we used to listen to when we were in high school and college. You know, love songs. Songs that told a story. Songs you could sing along with and not be embarrassed to say the words. Nowadays the music consists mostly of electronic sounds and heavy rhythm. And you can sing along, but you better not let your mom hear you.

Country singers still talk about love. Oh, it might be in the back of a pick-up truck while drinking a beer, but there’s usually a degree of romance involved. And some of the titles are clever enough to make me laugh out loud.

Take these for example…..

I’m So Miserable Without You It’s Like Having You Here (Billy Ray Cyrus)
I Still Miss You Baby But My Aim’s Getting Better (Lynn Anderson)
Money Can’t Buy Everything (But It Could Buy Me a Boat) (Chris Janson)

And my new personal favorite

You Look Like I Need a Drink (Justin Moore)

One more thought about music, however. I often say that while I can’t remember the name of my doctor, I can remember the words to every single song released in the 1960s and 70s. And they were all so innocent, I go on to say.

The other day Bill and I were having coffee at the Starbucks in our nearby grocery store and the Muzak was playing 60s music. A familiar song came on and I began singing it quietly under my breath. Suddenly, perhaps for the first time ever, I actually paid attention to the words. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m now a grandmother, but I was disgruntled.

Here are a few of the lyrics from Young Girl by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap:

Young girl, get out of my mind, my love for you is way out of line, better run girl, you’re much too young, girl. So hurry home to your mama, I’m sure she wonders where you are, get out of here before I have the time to change my mind…..

The Union Gap present day. They’re old guys, just like us!

Sigh. Maybe we weren’t so innocent.

15Feb2016

Fur Elise

Posted in Whimsies by kzmclain

Carter, Bec, and Kenzie perform at the piano.

I took piano lessons for somewhere in the neighborhood of five years. I think I started around the age of 7, and around the age of 12 I finally persuaded my mother that the money being spent was pure, unadulterated futility as I had absolutely no talent. Oh, I could pound out a song and even memorize a few twice a year for the requisite (and greatly dreaded) recitals, but my playing was nothing special.

Bec took lessons and so did Jen. Both had more talent than I, especially Bec (who actually majored in music for about a brief time when she first started college). Mom apparently took one look at my brother Dave and threw in the towel.

We had a big upright piano that lived in our little dining room in Columbus. Given the difference in our ages, Bec would probably have been nearing the end of her lessons when I began mine. I don’t recall having to share the piano for practicing. I do, however, remember practicing. One half hour each day, Monday through Friday. Mom set a timer and started the metronome and there were no exceptions. I hated every minute. Outdoors was calling as I slaughtered a Mozart minuet.

Bec and I took lessons from our second cousin, an older woman named Isabelle (she seemed ancient, but in hindsight, she was probably 40) who was unmarried. An old maid is how the world referred to her at that time. Isabelle had attended a greatly-respected music college in St. Louis, and was well educated and quite skilled. For the most part, we only learned serious music, mostly classical. I became grateful for that later in my life, but as a 7-year-old, I would have preferred more contemporary music. Jen, who took lessons from someone else (and I frankly can’t remember why) learned music that was much more fun.

Kaiya, not dancing…..

The result of my five years of lessons is that I can now play Für Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven. The beauty of Für Elise is that it sounds really complicated but is actually quite easy to play. From the time Kaiya was able to walk, she danced to Für Elise as I played it on my piano. She’s 7, and still does. Lots of twirling. “Please play my dance song,” she will say.

Given a bit of practice, I can pound out Silver Bells and White Christmas at Christmastime. Please understand, however, that I can only play any of this music because of muscle memory. Though I am able to read music, I would be hard pressed to sit down and play from a new piece of sheet music.

Despite this fact, I insisted that we buy a piano when we bought our house in Denver. There is a spot that I’m convinced was designed for a piano, as our spinet fits perfectly. My plan was that I was going to once again take lessons and become somewhat proficient. That was 23 years ago, and I can still only play Für Elise. However, if I ever talked about getting rid of it, three things would happen.

First, I would have to find something to fit in a space that screams PIANO;

Second, I would have to find a different place to put the pictures of my grandkids; and

Third, the grandkids – every last one of them – would pitch a fit because they all like to sit down and pound on the keys. Addie does more than pound because she has actually taken lessons. Kaiya yearns to play, and has memorized a couple of songs that have been taught to her by Addie. The piano desperately needs tuning because, well, pounding. But I don’t get it tuned because, well, pounding. Often there are orange Cheeto fingerprints on the piano keys.

Silver bells, it’s Christmastime in the city…..

This past Christmas, Bill and Jen and I had dinner one night at Bec’s, and she sat down at the piano and played some Christmas music. She and her grands – Kenzie and Carter – had actually prepared a Christmas Concert as a surprise for their parents and they did a round 2 for us. Singing Christmas carols around the piano brought back such wonderful memories of Christmases past. My family never failed to sing at least one round of Silver Bells and Do You Hear What I Hear? around Christmastime.

One last thought about piano lessons. My cousin Bobbie also took lessons from Isabelle, and it was abundantly clear that she got the bulk of the piano playing talent in the family. Bobbie went on to also study at that same music college in St. Louis, and plays beautifully to this day. She can play more than Für Elise.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

Nana's Whimsies

Musings of a Baby Boomer….

Author Archives: kzmclain

Hungry

It Was a Zoo Out There

Abraham

Saturday Smile: When Dinos Walked the Earth

Friday Book Whimsy: The Nightingale

Thursday Thoughts

Sunny Day in Paradise

A Little Bit Country

Fur Elise