“I play the ukulele. Is that quirky?”
Today is almost balmy at 48°. It rained during the night, and rain is predicted for today. Everywhere is wet from the melting snow. My kitchen floor is hidden under layers of paw prints. I think the dogs need boots.
My fifth uke event of the week is today, a concert. We are still playing songs of the 60’s. After next week we switch to Irish.
It still astonishes me that I can play the uke. My rhythm band triangle career ended after the first grade. That was the last time I played an instrument. I now own three ukes. This is getting serious.
I get to be a sloth this whole weekend. I have been far too busy so I will lounge. Next week I have a doctor’s appointment and three uke events, practice, my lesson and a concert, so I need to conserve my energy.
When I was a kid, I loved school. My favorite subjects were English and geography. That love never left. I became an English teacher and traveled to many of the places I remembered from my geography book. I was astonished standing underneath Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado mountain in Rio. When I learned about the Equator, it was described as an imaginary line. I wondered. How did they know where it really is if it’s imaginary. I stood on that imaginary line, taking them at their word. My geography book had come to life, and I was on the pages.
When we had recess after lunch in grammar school, we girls often just stood in groups and talked. Other girls jump roped. The boys played at the two basketball hoops. After I started playing CYO basketball, I asked if the girls could use one of the hoops. I got turned down and was told hoops were not for girls. I politely balked but the nun was adamant. She and I came from different worlds.
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February 23, 2024 at 12:40 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sky is a bright blue with a high temperature predicted to reach a chilly 73°. Next week we have high temperatures forecast close to 90°. Who said global warming is a farce? Trump did and he’s wrong as usual. 😦
I’m amazed how well you have taken to the ukulele. I not only have no musical talent, I have no rhythm and I also can’t jump. I used to tell my students that I played the iPod. 🙂 Was the ukulele invented in Hawaii? Have you been to Hawaii. I haven’t.
When I was in school my favorite subjects were history and earth science. I had a wonderful earth science teacher. I still remember his description of how oil developed by starting with a fish cemetery. I enjoyed reading but I was turned off to English class when my teacher, in the third or fourth grade, started diagramming sentences. I still don’t get it. I like the New York Times philosophy of English, “If it’s readable it goes to print”. The Times is supposedly written on a seventh grade reading level. Their motto is, “All the news that’s fit to print”. I used to say, “All the news that fits we print”. 🙂
I tried out for little league baseball as a kid and was shortly sent directly to right field. As the Peter, Paul, and Mary, song goes, “Little Leagues never have lefties that pull”. That’s why I was out in right field. I played a lot of basketball before the other boys had their growth spurts. 🙂
February 23, 2024 at 8:14 pm
Hi Bob,
A chilly 73°! That sound you hear is my snorting derisively.
It is almost 8 o’clock and is 40°. That is global warning for this part of the world this time of year. Trump has no clear understanding of what global warming actually is. No surprise there!
I have no musical talent, but I figured with only 4 strings the uke would be easy to learn. I do love playing it and defying my lack of talent. Yes, it was invented in Hawaii but was a modification of a Portuguese instrument.
I also love history and minored in it and actually taught a half schedule of English and US history for a couple of years. I was also taught diagramming. I’m surprised you didn’t like it as it has a set pattern, a right place for everything. It is also an easy way to teach parts of speech.
We used to determine the reading level of the novels I was choosing for literature classes.
I coached softball when I was still teaching. The least talented players always went into right field, and I hoped for few lefties at bat from the other team!