Hi Mom,
I'm sitting in bed, quilts up to my chin, enjoying my coffee, a refreshingly cold breeze coming through the window.
I didn't seem to get much done at all yesterday, probably because I was too tired from all of the cleaning I had done on Sunday. I did do all the dishes from making the green chile stew the day before (I'd seemed to use every single pot I have!) and tidied up the front rooms. I've never kept my house tidy for any longer than a couple of days, and I'm resolved to turn over a new leaf in that department.
I also found the picture-hanging hardware kit I'd bought and hung the newly-framed pictures in the bedroom, in the corner which I went through and organized last week. It makes me feel good to look at them.
It was a lovely cold sunny-cloudy day, the air so clean from the rain the day before.
The reason that I was so tired was that I'd spent all morning and early afternoon Sunday cleaning the front rooms of my very messy, dirty house, because I had a music jam "meetup" scheduled that afternoon. Everything had gotten so bad that cleaning and de-cluttering each area took twice as long as I thought it would. The result was that I only got the dining room, the bathroom, and part of the kitchen done. (The music jams happen around the dining room table.)
I kept wanting to sit down and rest, an urge which I gave into periodically and then would get anxious. I still have some phlegm left over from that monster cold, and I still seem to have less than my usual energy level.
But it sure was nice to see the dining room table all cleaned off and gleaming, and the pictures on the surrounding walls dusted, and the shelves cleaned off. There were a lot of cobwebs to deal with! And cobwebs anywhere near the kitchen turn into yucky, grimy things, if they are allowed to remain for a while, which they had been!
Also, I finally put the photo of Dale Sr. in the frame which I've been intending to put it in for five months now. It looks really nice. Dale Sr.'s sister Susie took it last summer while they were fishing, and it's the only photo of him that I've ever really liked.
It was a chilly, overcast day. Dale Sr. went up on the roof and sent the chimney brush up and down the chimney.
Before each music "meetup" I have to go up to Starbucks. Because I never put my address and phone number on-line, I meet any new people who rsvp to the "meetup" at Starbucks, at 4 PM, and they follow me to my house. People who are repeat attenders (I almost said "repeat offenders") meet at my house at 4:30.
I am always nervous meeting the new people, but this time I was especially nervous. My friend Laure was not able to attend this time, and not having a car would make the logistics more difficult. I really actually hoped that no new people would have rsvp'd!
Also, I'd forgotten to bring my sign, the sign which lets the new person see that I'm the one for the music meetup. The cardboard sign is a red and black depiction of the word "Meetup" but inside an outline of a guitar. So I drew a large musical note on a page of my planner, and propped it up so it could be seen, hoping the person would get the idea.
It started to pour, the rain coming down outside in puddles.
Going on-line to the "meetup" site, I found out that one of the two "repeat offenders" had canceled, and one new person had rsvp'd. By 4:10 they still had not shown up, so I called Dale Sr. and asked him if he could come get me. I had to have time to get back to the house by 4:30, to let the other person in.
As I was getting my stuff together to leave, a very nervous, tall, chubby youngish man in shorts and an oversized tee-shirt came up, extended his hand, and asked if I was Grace. He was accompanied by his wife, a comfortable looking person who asked if it would be all right if she "sat in a corner and crocheted". He was Chris and she was Christina.
It turned out that Chris and his wife had actually been in the Starbucks for ten minutes or so, but he wasn't sure if I was the right person.
"I'm kind of a nervous person," he said.
"Well, it's not that easy for me either," I said. "Meeting new people, it's close to the edge of my comfort zone."
I felt a great deal of good will and enthusiasm on the part of both of them, which helped, of course. Dale Sr. was waiting outside and they followed us to our house.
It turned out to be a really nice evening. He was actually quite a skilled guitarist, but absolutely not used to playing with another person. The first song we did, his stuff didn't seem to have much to do at all with the tempo and changes of the song I was playing chords to.
I said, "Let's try it again, slower." I played only one chord per measure, slowing the tempo just singing the melody softly without words. It went quite a bit better, he seemed to be able to do stuff which fit the chords and also to keep time. After that, I played the usual rhythm guitar accompaniment, and he got better at fitting what he was doing into the song.
His wife kept making enthusiastic comments. She said that she'd been wanting him to play with other people for a long time. She sat at the table with us, at first chrocheting, and then petting our long haired Siamese cat. Sharlee, who is so pushy and obnoxious that we don't usually pay her much attention, was in heaven.
The stuff he was playing was quite beautiful, especially when in a minor key. I went through the book finding songs that had a lot of minor chords, and every other verse or chorus I'd say, "Your turn," and he seemed to get progressively more comfortable.
I hadn't realized how out of practice I was; my fingers hurt quite a bit. It will motivate me to start practicing regularly again.
It turned out he had made the guitar he was playing! He'd taken a 6-month intensive program to learn to be a luthier.
I'd made some green chile beef, using some of the chiles from the freezer which Dale Sr. had smoked last year, and we all had that with tortillas. Dale Sr. was affable and friendly, he seemed to take to both of them.
Definitely worth all of the effort!
Love, Lennie
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