Life these days

More fun than Maybelle Carter

      Judy had a solo autoharp gig on Saturday.  Her teacher volunteered Judy for this performance about a month ago.  Judy's jamming buddy Donna, who has played background music on the piano for many events,  helped her  choose appropriate tunes. Judy practiced ferociously until she noticed, three days before the event, that her autoharp had developed a squeal.  She borrowed Donna's much better instrument to use in the performance. However, the chord layout on Donna's harp was different, and during practice sessions  I heard words I have seldom  heard come out of Judy's mouth. "**!!%%!!  Where is her C 7th?" Then came the all-important step of choosing what to wear.  By Saturday morning Judy was ready for the stage.

Better than a day job

     She played for 2 hours  at a busy wine tasting at the Korkage, a wine shop on the other side of the  Willamette River. It was fine, mellow music for a bright, busy afternoon.  Judy's teacher Fuey (given name: Freelene) was there, and Donna, and our neighbors Janet and Robert. Judy was a shining hit.   There was money in the tip jar, and the shop owners  asked her to come back.  Now that Judy's inner ham has made an appearance, there will be no living with her.

New look

    Last week Joan came back for an afternoon and helped us transform  our den.  We took Judy's old Navajo rug off the wall and put it on the floor.   We removed the Formica kitchen table full of computer parts and paper and replaced it with a sedate bookcase.  Joan tamed the tangle of wires that had been under the table and hid them behind the curtain.  Now a good room is better.

Back rub

Janet and Robert

     We went next door to eat and watch the Super Bowl at Janet and Robert's house. Janet sent Robert over to borrow rice, and then we carried our fruit salad and baguette over the pavers that Robert had installed between our houses to make a path. We settled in to a family Sunday afternoon.  Janet made Caesar salad while Robert grilled marinated flank steak.  Their daughter Kelli whipped egg whites for a lemon meringue pie.  Judy  collated flyers about the 2012 Seattle Autoharp Week while we watched the game.   Judy's best canine friend Arnold got his back rubbed  by the feet of Kelli's husband Randy while Randy laughed and hooted at the commercials.

Kelli and Randy

Kelli's pie

      I was bewildered by the commercials. What do people see in those flashing, crashing special effects? I don't understand the lure of spectacle, either, and  the half-time show gave me the creeps.  It  reminded me of the  Leni Riefenstahl's 1935 propaganda film"Triumph of the Will"  that my political science professor in college was so eager for us to see.
     Kelli went into the office to do her taxes, and I began stuffing Judy's flyers into envelopes.  Janet asked, "What does it mean when they get a first down?" and confessed that she never watched football games.    We saw a few great plays and then went home, happy from good times with good neighbors.