The Kind of September

Fall has gripped my little slice of Northern Indiana with a beautiful weekend and mild temperatures. I wish I had time to enjoy it. It frightens me how quickly this year has passed by and can scarce believe October is around the corner. Cross country meets, church business, work, homework, housework, diet, exercise, family obligations, money, money, money. It's all taking a toll. Well, that sounds rather drastic. I'm just feeling pulled a hundred different ways and none in the direction I want to go.

One of the things shoved to the side by these bulldozing aspects of modern day life has been time spent with my guitar. I just haven't had the time to really play. I get a few moments at work with Patrick, but precious little at home with Jane. I look back at my calendar and I have had meetings or work every evening for the last three weeks. When I get home, I'd rather spend time with my kids and wife. Silly me.

Tonight I got out Jane, sat by an open window and played to my heart's content. I asked my youngest daughter to choose a song book for me from the piano room. She brought me two books of Broadway tunes. Hmmmm.... it had been awhile since I cracked those two volumes. They were too advanced for my skills at the time, about 6 months ago. But, I was in a good mood for a challenge and jumped in. Now, most tunes I don't even know, and the ones I do know are still too advanced with keys in sharps and flats. Sorry, I don't have the Bbm7add9 fingering down yet.

Still, two songs that I found impossible 6 months ago seemed very easy tonight. The first was Memory from Cats. I've written about this before, but this arrangement is much more challenging than that. The second was Try to Remember from The Fantasticks. Not a difficult song in terms of chords, but I could never get the rhythm before (plus I struggled on a few of Major7 chords). Both were so much fun! And my evening was so relaxing. Just me, sitting by the bay window as the sun set.

Ah, summer's end and autumn's birth in Northern Indiana. It is my favorite season. I want time to slow down so I can enjoy it like this as long as I can.

2 Comments:

  1. Saints and Spinners said...
    You agreed to play "Memory" from Cats? Now, that's love!

    :)

    Okay, fine, I'll admit it that there was a time in my life that I listened to "Cats" quite a bit. My mom said she preferred my heavy metal stage to the musicals phase that followed.

    I hope you get a little more time to play guitar.
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    Naw, I've been a fan of ALW for a long time. I was lucky enough to see some shows on Broadway, including CATS. So, playing the song brings back some *ahem* memories of my Sophomore year at Hesston and the drama class I took during J-term.

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