September 11 - Never Forget

God Bless America

 The Veteran's Group in our neighborhood put together a ceremony this morning to honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2011 when terrorists attacked our country. The flag was lowered to half mast, prayers were said and our Local Vocals signing group sang a couple of patriotic songs. It was touching and fitting, and just so hard to believe that 25 years have passed.

September 11th remembrance

Each year on September 11th you can hear people discussing where they were when they first heard about the terrorist attacks on America. Just like when President Kennedy was assassinated, I will never forget what I was doing. As usual on a nice weather day, I had walked with my daughter to her elementary school and returned home. Sitting down at the table to eat breakfast, I turned on our 9" television set to catch the morning news. The Today Show interrupted their newscast to show a plane crashing into the first tower in New York. Like most people, I assumed there was a problem with the plane or that pilot error was involved. When the live footage of the second plane hitting the other tower appeared, I knew that no errors had been made. I immediately called my husband, and followed that with a call to my sister. She was staying in Cincinnati caring for my dad at the time, and I wanted to make sure they knew what was going on.

There was a lot of uncertainty in the days, weeks, and months that followed the attacks. A sense of pride and unity spread across our country as we all agreed to help and protect our own. Many security measures were instituted, and most of those remain today. Unfortunately our sense of justice and caring appears to have diminished over the years. We might "never forget" what happened on September 11, 2001, but we seem to have forgotten how to respect and care for our fellow citizens.

Hitting the Right Notes

We have a lot of musically inclined people in my neighborhood. There are singing groups, bands, guitar enthusiasts, the Driveway Drinkers (who prove that you can do two things at once) and the Porch Pickers.The last group is comprised of people who are newer to playing the guitar. The guy who started the group is a friend of mine, and he's been trying to talk me into joining. But I hadn't picked up my guitar in over 45 years, and some of the Porch Pickers play in the large band here, so it was too intimidating for me.

My friend and another of the Porch Pickers decided to offer free guitar lessons. So I had my guitar restrung, and joined the ten others who wanted to give it a try. I had forgotten how long and painful it is to toughen up your fingertips, and I play a classical guitar which has nylon stings instead of metal. I began in May, and stuck with it, practicing every day. (Even though some guitarists from the band still came to the "beginner" sessions. What the heck?) But despite all my efforts, I just could not make a few of the chords work. I don't remember having that issue when I was in my 20s, but maybe I just forgot. At any rate, I was getting frustrated with myself. 

I tried Jim's guitar, which is acoustic and has a little smaller neck. And then I tried a smaller guitar that someone in the neighborhood let me borrow. I wasn't happy with those options. So I decided to try the ukulele! It is, of course, MUCH smaller, and only has four strings instead of six. The strings are nylon as well, and easier on the fingers. I just picked it up on Saturday, and on Sunday I purchased an online program to follow.

The instructor coincidentally was beginning a fingerpicking challenge this week, so I joined in on that as well. I might have bitten off more than I can chew with the challenge, but so far I am really enjoying my experience with the ukulele. I miss hanging out with the other guitarists here, but I hope that I can find someone else who plays the ukulele so that we can practice together. If not, maybe I can find someone online through the Facebook groups. Come tiptoe through the tulips with me!

Yard Critters

The summer has been extremely busy (and hot!), and my area of the country is in a severe drought. We are thankfully getting some rain right now, but they said we would need over 19 inches of rain in a month to get caught up with where we should be. We are under Stage 2 Mandatory Water Restrictions, and are to conserve at home and only water outside on Thursdays and Sundays. We don't have an irrigation system, so that isn't a problem for us, but I do miss being able to wash the car.

A couple of guys in the neighborhood are offering free guitar lessons, so I had my Yamaha classical guitar restrung and have been attending the classes, which are held every other Monday. I practice every day and have built up calluses on my fingertips, but I just can't seem to get the stretch in my fingers to make certain chords. I used to play a bit 40 some years ago, and I don't remember that being a problem in the past. I am getting a little frustrated with it. A friend has a smaller guitar, so I'm going to try it to see if that makes a difference. Another friend has a ukulele, and I messed around with that a bit. I am kind of interested in trying a uke if the smaller guitar doesn't pan out.

We have had a lot of creature activity in both the front and back yards recently. It is so fun to see all the birds, butterflies and lizards around. But recently we were visited by a toad, which was cool. We also had six deer grazing out back, which is highly unusual. Fortunately they were not picking on my plants, but were instead eating the scrub stuff that grows on the hillside. All this action is one of the reasons we wanted to live here, particularly with the lot we were able to get.

yard critters