old joe clark

Sometimes you just have to do something besides write. We (even Randy and Wyatt) spent the day with the old time fiddlers and got a good dose of Old Joe Clark and a bunch of other tunes and felt like new. And Paul was offerred his first fidding gig at age 9! But he's going to have to wait awhile to pursue that sort of venue as he's still playing by ear and not reading music though we wave plenty of flashcards around to achieve that effect.

The other day I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the finger placements on the violin and how agile, not to mention downright quick, you have to be to master it. Sometimes I just don't get it (that's why he's taking lessons, not me). Paul looked at me kind of funny and said, "But Mom, think of how fast you type. Violin is like typing real fast." Well, I'd never thought of it quite that way but I did feel better after his little insight. If I could make a "D" in typing in high school and now peck respectably 30 years later, I guess he can figure out all the finger placements eventually.

Back to the galleys. Grrrrrrr. The creating of a book is one thing, a final edit is another.

I inherited a painting and a violin which turned out to be a Rembrandt and a Stradivarius. Unfortunately, Rembrandt made lousy violins and Stradivarius was a terrible painter. -Tommy Cooper