People are Reading and It's HOT!!

To be honest, part of the reason I hadn't posted was because I didn't think anybody was reading this blog.  I also haven't been very inspired recently.  What can I say?  It's hard to be inspired when it is so wickedly hot outside.  I have received a couple of e-mails from concerned readers.  To those who are reading, thank you.

I decided that laughing about this heat may be a good blog topic.  For those of you who don't live in Central Arizona, these things really have happened!  Please note:  ALL temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.

You know you are "enjoying" an Arizona summer when...

...you blister the bottoms of your feet - through your shoes.

...when crossing the street, the bottoms of your tennis shoes melt.

...when you go to bed, at 11:00 PM, the temperature is still over 100.

...when you get up, at 3:30 AM, the temperature is over 100.

...you comment about how humid it feels and the humidity is only at 7%.

...you aren't the least bit surprised that there is no rain with the thunder and lightening.

...when you go over a bridge, you are shocked that there is water in the wash.

...when the doctor asks you if you are having "excessive sweating" or "trouble sleeping", you look at him like he is an idiot.  After all, it's 118 degrees outside and it hasn't dropped to below 90 in over a week!

...the type of dust storm that passed through occurs only in two other places in the world - the Middle East and the Sahara Desert.

...you can't charge your cell phone in the car because the over-heating circuit engages.

...the weatherman (correctly) exclaims that it is going to be chilly.  The high is only going to be 103!

...you decided you "wanted some green out front" so you spray painted the rocks.

...even the weeds have a burnt look.
...you take a hot shower but only turn on the cold water side
...you haven't even had a cold shower since March.
...you have no clue how hot it is in the car because the LCD display on the thermometer fried and the other doesn't go that high.
...you know how hot it is in your car because you have an analog oven thermometer in your car.  The digital oven thermometer had the LCD display fried.
...you have had money try to burn a hole through your pocket and your skin after picking up a lost coin in a parking lot.
...you do much of your cooking outside in a solar oven.
...the one day the clouds moved in and cooled everything off to 85 degrees, you wore a sweater.
...you left a CD laying on the seat of your car and it warped.
...when it starts to rain, you run outside to stand in it.
...you could hear rain hitting the roof and awning, but it evaporated before it got to your head.

I hope everyone's summer has been enjoyable.

A Belated Father's Day Thought

DAD, forwards and backwards is still DAD.  Dads are special people and there is no one in our lives like a dad!

Mother's Day Thought

Isn't it appropriate that by turning the word MOM upside down, you get WOW!

Farewell, Joel

One of the greatest experiences of my musical life was the opportunity to study string bass under Joel di Bartolo.  I knew he was an awesome bass player, but I didn't realize how great until I just did a search to make sure I was spelling his name correctly.  He was obviously not a boaster!  M*A*S*H and Star Trek TNG are two DVD series that are often playing in our house.  My Trekkie husband will be shocked to hear about this.

For those of you who do not recognize his name, please take a minute to read Joel's Obituary.

Just before Easter, I found out about his passing.  It has taken me this long to accept it and grieve.  I never got the opportunity to thank him for taking his time with me.  I am not a world-class bassist.  I am not even an outstanding bassist.  I am a recreational bassist but I am a much better bassist because of Joel.

Before Joel came to NAU, I had taken private lessons under another instructor.  That year of lessons was a nightmare.  I hated it and I vowed I would not take any more private lessons.  The next year, the orchestra director somehow convinced me to at least give Joel a try.  This would be the first (and only) time I would really get to study under someone who actually played bass.  At that point, I had been playing bass for 8 years.  I spent my first lesson playing open-string whole notes.  We went back to the very basics.  I learned more in that one year than I had from all my other private lessons combined.  I only was able to study under Joel for one year because I was graduating and moving.

He made a list of changes that my bass needed done so it would be the best bass for me.  When he would be doing something special and not want to bring his bass, he would ask to use my bass.

Joel didn't try to mold me into his vision of "the perfect bassist".  He helped me discover my particular style and how to overcome my shortcomings.  He worked with me on bowing techniques and how to play so I wasn't causing more wrist pain.  I remember him saying, "Playing bass should never be painful."  Wow!  Not buck up and deal with it, but, let's find a way so it doesn't hurt!  He accepted that I played bass solely for fun and not because I wanted to make it a career.  He also never treated me like I was wasting his time because I didn't want to be a professional.  It was OK to play bass just because I wanted to.  His attitude of taking each bassist as an individual gave me confidence I had never had as a bassist.

Would I have continued to play bass after NAU if it wasn't for the confidence Joel helped me build?  Would I have played in groups where I was the only bassist if it hadn't been for Joel?  Would I still even enjoy playing bass?

I mourn for all the bassists who will never get a chance to experience his wisdom, talent, and humor.  I mourn for those bassists who will stop playing because they will not have instructors that help them find their styles and tell them it is OK to just play for fun.  I mourn for our loss to experience a master make the bass fluently speak in so many musical languages.

Thank you, Joel, for helping me discover the tools so I could continue to enjoy playing bass.  I mourn that I will never get to sit next to you again and receive those jewels of wisdom you would share.  Thank you.

Living Juliette's Dream

When Juliette Low started Girl Scouts in 1912, her vision was an organization for ALL girls.  At the time, the only people who "really counted" were affluent whites, especially in the South.

This weekend was the Annual Meeting for our local Girl Scout Council.  Sitting at the table at lunch, I was talking to a Muslim (in full garb) and a Jew.  One of them was in her mid-50s and the other her 20s.  Then there was me - a Roman Catholic in my late-30s.  Between the diverse religious differences and the age differences, we probably wouldn't have met under other circumstances.  What made me realize the diversity of the three of us was the Muslim lady sharing about going to a Catholic school.

Girl Scouts is an organization that promotes "colorblindness".  Although we celebrate our diversities, we also meld into one group.  We are all human beings and even though we each have our own story, we are all Girl Scouts (or Girl Guides).

I have talked to a couple of ladies who were military brats while growing up.  As the military would move the family all over the world, these girls-at-the-time, would have to change schools, and often countries.  They have all said that no matter where they ended up, they had built-in friends in their new Girl Scout troops.

We have a long way to go before we can all look at each other and not see our differences first.  When that happens, World peace will be a lot closer.

I wish Juliette Low could have seen the three of us visiting last Saturday.  I think she would have been proud to see that her dream of diversity is coming true.

Titanic's 100th Anniversary

With the anniversary of the Titanic sinking, I have been thinking about how tragedies seem to be required to force us to make changes.  Many laws were put into effect that are still in use today because of the Titanic sinking.  One is that there has to be a lifeboat seat for every person on the ship.  Another is the requirement of lifeboat drills.

What was special about the Titanic that caused these changes?  There must have been other passenger liners that had sunk and had much loss of life.  First of all, the irony that an "unsinkable ship" would sink on its maiden voyage had to help.  The maiden voyage of the Titanic was a major event.  All the best were on there, from crew to passengers.  The finest of the crew were collected from other White Star Lines to make this the finest voyage to date.  Many of America's most influential men of the time were also gathered.  I believe that it was the loss of these influential men that caused the changes.

I also find it interesting that the Titanic is credited with being the first to use the, now common, distress signal SOS.  I have heard that SOS is an acronym for various things, but in reality, in Morse code, it is just easier to pick out of a conglomeration of sound than the CQD that was used until that time.  CQ basically stands for "calling anyone" and the D is for "distress".  So, if CQ is used for looking for others, whether or not there is an emergency, a CQD could easily be missed.  On the other hand, SOS has a distinct sound, being easier to distinguish.  Also, when in an emergency, our adrenaline kicks in and it can be harder to think clearly.  The 3x3x3 of SOS is much easier to remember than the, well, um, I don't remember, of CQD.  (Da-di-da-dit, da-da-di-dah, da-di-dit)

Have you ever wondered what happened to the life boats the survivors were in?  I guess I always assumed they were left at the site of the Titanic.  They were dumped shortly before the Carpathia came into harbor so they wouldn't be available to be photographed.  This was done out of respect for all those that were suffering the trauma of the event.  What a difference it would be in America today...

One last note:  Titanic: A New Musical is my favorite musical.  I saw it performed by the Phoenix Youth Theater (?).  It is NOT a stage production of the James Cameron movie.  Besides the amazing talent of the young performers, I fell in love with the music.  It is quite an amazing and powerful musical.

More Animal Joy

In the last couple of weeks, I have had two more times that I have enjoyed "animal watching."

The first was a gila woodpecker.  They were making a new nest in our palm tree.  The male was working on the inside of the nest.  Every 30 seconds or so, he would pop his head out and blow the wood from inside his beak. It was such an awesome and rare site.

The other was a cat.  He lives down the street from us.  There are actually two of these cats.  One has a tail, the other doesn't.  The coloring of these cats are what first caught my eye.  They have tabby coloring and markings on their backs and haunches, but on each side, they have a huge spot surrounded by an open ring.  In all the books I have looked at about cat breeds, I have never seen anything like these markings.  Anyhow, we had a "situation" in our park and down the street from us was part of a crime scene.  There were two police officers watching the crime scene.  There was also one of these cats.  He wanted attention from these officers so badly.  He would weave in and out of their legs and lay on their feet.  He almost got stepped on a couple of times.  He stayed with them for at least three or four hours.

Take time to listen to the birds or marvel at a flower.  If you get a chance, watch a bird as well.  If you are someplace where a cat or dog wants attention, give it to him.  Taking the time to slow down and enjoy these things are good for us.