NOW
April 17, 2004 - Saturday
Finger Blisters
Rain today giving me a welcome break from loading steel
into our newest dumpster. Yesterday I got my burned motorcycle trailer part
way through the dumpster door but had to give up when it got stuck half way
in. Wasn’t looking forward to dealing with that today. (Dumped the burned
motorcycle in last month's load.)
Catherine has four new baby chicks that she carries everywhere with her. If
she keeps in constant contact with the babies, they imprint on her and then
follow her everywhere when they grow up. Makes it easier when we let the
chickens roam around the property. When it’s time to put them to bed, they
let her pick them up. (Yep, these are pets, not food chickens.) She even
takes them to work where they follow her around the halls of the SDSU
Geology department. Catherine studied animal behavior before she ended up in
geology.
________________
Back in the early 60’s my brother was in a high school
rock & roll band. This was before the Beatles, during a time when surf music
was the rage. They weren’t bad for a high school band and they played a lot
of Ventures tunes. When Barry went to college, his electric guitars stayed
behind and I spent hours banging away on those things. By that time it was a
different era and the music I was interested in didn’t require much skill to
play. I never took lessons but when you’re just trying to imitate the
squealing feed-back of Jimi Hendrix, it doesn’t require a lot of study. I
learned a few chords and got to a point where I could sometimes follow along
when listening to my favorite albums. The Beatles were (and are) my favorite
group but at that time I was also enthralled with the Jefferson Airplane and
groups like the Who. I’d play their records, crank the amplifier up to
distortion level and try to follow along with the music. If I had turned off
the record player I don’t think anyone would have recognized the tunes I was
trying to play. I did that for years and I’m amazed that my parents put up
with it. (Let alone the neighbors)
My brother had good taste in guitars and, as I recall, I
was playing on top quality Gibson and Fender models. They were difficult
times and those guitars played an important roll in distracting me from some
emotional problems I was having during the late 60’s and 70’s.
During the last ten years I’ve been having a reoccurring
dream where I’m back in my bedroom playing those guitars. I suppose it’s
some sort of pathetic unconscious attempt at recapturing my youth but the
feeling is nostalgic and comforting. On Monday I gave in and stopped by the
Guitar Center and picked up a Taylor acoustic 110 model. It’s an entry level
instrument though the
Taylor brand is
recognized as being first-rate and I ended up spending about $500. A
far cry from my no-name pawn shop model that burned up in the fire. This
time I’m taking the time to practice a little more seriously. I’m learning
the notes and studying along with a beginners guitar lesson DVD. And yes,
I’ve got blisters on my fingers.
