Funerals

 Two relatives died this week. One of them was the father of a distant cousin who has led the guitar mass musicians since I left for Columbus over 25 years ago. The other was my uncle.

When the lead musician is unable to perform, I wondered who would provide the music? I occasionally join the musicians when I return home, so I decided join the musicians playing at the funeral masses. I ended up playing flute and singing one day. The next day, I also played harp before and after the service.

While I was in my old bedroom at home, I noticed some of my handiwork from when I was very, very young. Now visible in the midday brightness of the sun were the crosses I etched into several door frames with a pen knife. I remember being so proud of my work; after all, the cross symbolized something very special. I still remember my confusion over my mom being horrified at what I'd done. Hmmm...I'd forgotten all about that.

Easter Egg Metronome

I’m going to have my students color eggs this week, so I put a dozen and a half eggs on the stove to boil. After the water began to boil, I set the timer and went to do some warm-up exercises on the harp. I started the metronome app on my iPhone and began playing. I was amused when the kitchen timer went off beeping two eighth-notes between every quarter note of my metronome. It was perfectly timed, and didn’t change. Amused, I thought to myself, “Well, I guess the kitchen timer is set for the quarter notes at 60 beats per minute.”