piano

Day 26 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. 6 more posts to write. I hope for no writer’s block or stumbling and falling off my keyboard till after they’re all written. Let me start by offering my 3 gratitude for the day.

I’m grateful for another beautiful sunny day. The greenhouse got up to a high of 21.4℃ in the afternoon. There’s hope of the baby bitter melons maturing. I harvested 4 small ones to give my mother. It’s enough for a meal for her and my father.
I’m grateful Zoom was working for my online class from our university. We had 2 very interesting speakers on the post pandemic world. One spoke on the politics before, during and now. The other speaker was a nursing faculty. He spoke on nursing education, nursing and the pandemic. I am a retired nurse so it was of special interest. I was in it for over 30 years and retired 9 years ago. I loved my job but I never defined myself as a nurse. Curious. One day I will give it some thought.
I am grateful for my walk this afternoon to the guy’s boat workshop. I haven’t gone for many walks since we’ve lost our dog, Sheba. It was a 20 minute walk along the same route Sheba and I walked many times. I caught a ride home. I think it would be another good daily habit. I greatly enjoyed the exercise, fresh air and scenery along the way.

I’m looking through my list of 21 tiny habits. I think it’s a good habit to do it daily if I can.

I did exercise upon waking. I go through my c.a.r.s daily. I feel, move and sleep the better for it. It takes just minutes in the morning while I wait for the kettle to boil. I like to do a longer version in the evening while watching television.
Discover one thing a month. I discovered Tarot cards from another blogger in the UBC. I’m surprised it’s so interesting. I am reading The New Tarot Handbook by Rachel Pollack now and hope to get my cards soon, like tonight or tomorrow.
I have and tried to throw out one or 2 no longer needed things. I’ve trashed some obsolete photos from my desktop.

I think I’m doing pretty hunky dory for old gal. I’m still plunking away on the piano, making small progress. It is very small progress with the scales in my Brown Scale Book. I’m still working on the first 2 sets of C Major. But I’ve added Lavender’s Blue to my repertoire. It’s helping me make videos and it does help my playing hearing myself. My timing isn’t terrible but I’m too slow and I hesitate.

October 20th and day 20 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I did not write yesterday. It’ll be 4 days that I have missed so far but who’s counting, eh? I’ve been juicing our Concorde grapes. We had a big harvest. Last year I got only 2 glasses. This year 5 one-liter bottles so far. I’m a tuckered little homemaker. I wanted to rest yesterday but the grapes were getting ripe and riper, falling out of their skins. I had to finish processing them. I juiced 2 bottles and froze the rest. My fingertips are still bluish and achy from all the squishing and washing.

I had no spare energy at the end of the day but I did practice my piano. Knowing how to play one was one of my top wants on my wish when I was growing up in Maidstone, Saskatchewan. We were poor and couldn’t afford such luxuries. When we did get an old rinky dinky one, we couldn’t afford lessons. It made a nice piece of furniture and we played it however we could. It was a big deal when I finally fulfilled this wish in my late 40s. I can read music enough to play very basic piano even though I’ve taken lessons on classical piano up to Grade 3. I even enjoyed practicing scales. However, I did drop the lessons and playing. It happened. Now I’m getting back to it. I will never be a good pianist but I enjoy the exercise. It’s what counts – joy in playing.

I’ve talked about the other items on wishlist before – learning to ride a bike and learning to swim. I never had the opportunity to do either when I was young for the same reason. We were poor. I can do both now but I am not skilled in either. It’s harder to master those skills when you are an adult. As an adult, I am full with fear of failing, falling and drowning. I worked long and hard at both to overcome my fears. I am proficient enough to enjoy both activities. Now I am hampered by the closing of the pool where I have been swimming. I will have to find another where I will be comfortable. My neighbourhood is high in traffic so I didn’t even get my bike out this summer. I will do better next year.

I still have fears. Though we’ve had exceptional sunny warm October days, they are shorter. The mornings are dark until 7 before it starts to light up. I feel twinges of my seasonal affectiveness then and in late afternoon, especially when I am tired. I close my eyes and try to picture all the gold and oranges of autumn. Somehow they help to dispel some of the cold goose bumpy feelings. And a cuppa and adding to my wish list always help.