Good bye, March!

 Today was a chilly day; tomorrow looks like it will be even colder.  Possibly an April Fool's trick by Mother Nature.  But it might just work out alright for me.  A week ago I stopped by Kohl's in the hopes that I might find something springy to wear to church on Easter Sunday.  Instead, I walked out with a winter coat.  Well, I paid for it, and then I walked out with it.  For a couple of years now (I never rush into these things) I've been thinking that I could use a new winter coat.  My current coat has served me pretty well but it is about 15 years old and is beginning to look a lot like Colombo's old rain coat.  On elevator rides this winter I have admired the big puffy coats with fur edged hoods that several fellow tenants were wearing, so when I was strolling through Kohl's and saw a rack full of puffy coats with firm trimmed hoods I had to stop for a closer look.  That's when I discovered that they were wonderful warm Land's End coats marked down to half price.  They had my size in a color I like (charcoal) so I bought it, brought it home and hung it away in my coat closet, assuming that I wouldn't be wearing it until next winter.  But tomorrow I have a morning appointment and the temperature is supposed to be in the 30s.  Hello April!

Piano blues

 That 100 year old antique and antiqued piano traveled with us to Ohio and back to Fort Wayne, following in the track of my husband's career.  My son took piano lessons for a few years but his real interest was in the trombone and marching band.  While we were living in Ohio I decided to take piano lessons again.  After a few months I admitted that I still had no talent as a musician.  But we kept the piano and from time to time someone would play a Christmas carol or some other tune.  When we moved back to Fort Wayne we bought a house with a finished walk-out basement family room.  We decided that that was a good location for our piano, against an inside wall, on a solid foundation.  Did I mention it was really heavy?  Time passed, 30 some years worth, children grew, left home and married.  Grandchildren plunked on that old piano.  It lost a few ivories with the help of little fingers.  It was just there, not in the way, not a problem until I decided to downsize.  I hired a company to have an estate sale and they sold lots and lots of my stuff.  Do you know how many people need or want an old up-right piano? None.  Even the charities that I gave lots of unsold stuff to didn't want a piano.  But one of the charities, with a big moving truck, kindly moved the piano from the basement to the upstairs garage so whoever wanted it (I was still hopeful) would find it easier to move.  So there it sat while I wondered what to do with it.  The house sold quickly to a family with three teenage sons.  On one of their visits, I think it was during the home inspection, I casually asked the dad if they might want to keep the piano.  His face lit up like I had offered him a treasure.  Turns out one of his sons was in a band and would be thrilled to have a piano.  Problem solved.  I've often wondered if that piano is still in the garage of if they moved it inside but it's not my problem any more.

tickle those ivories

 Today is Piano Day.  It falls on the 88th day of the year for the number of keys on a piano.  I have had a long and checkered relationship with pianos.  When I was about 11, my mother bought an old upright piano and I took lessons.  She must have gotten a good deal on that piano because we certainly didn't have much money to spare.  My mom was  quite a good pianist.  Sadly, I was not.  I suspect it has something to do with having no sense of rhythm and being tone deaf.  That piano was put in my bedroom, the only place where there was room for it.  Later, my dad remodeled the house, creating a hallway but also making it impossible to move that piano out of the house.  Years later, when my father sold the house, the piano stayed until the buyers figured out how to get rid of it.  I was told they broke it into pieces and threw them out the window.  I don't know if that's true.  One summer (I must have been about 13) my glamorous cousin from Philadelphia came to visit.  She was a beautiful blonde who at one point in her young life played piano and sang in a night club.  While she was visiting she played that old piano like it had never been played before.  I think my father thought her music was a little too wild and loud but my brother and I thought it was wonderful.  Many years later I decided that my son should take piano lessons and I bought, you guessed it, an old heavy upright piano.  I clearly remember the language the movers used as they moved it into our house.  That was just the first of many moves and much strong language.  It actually was a good piano with a solid sound board and good tone.  Unfortunately, the former owner had decided it would be improved by being "antiqued."  It was a fad in the 70s.  To be continued.....

less paper

 Last Sunday I was very upset with the Journal Gazette because they announced that were not going to publish the weekly TV Journal as part of the Sunday paper anymore.  Now I must admit that one of the major reasons I subscribed to the Sunday paper was to get that weekly tv listing.  I also like the colored comics, the Sudoku puzzle and an occasional interesting article, but, if I'm being honest, I really kept subscribing for that weekly TV Journal.  I even called (and I bet I wasn't the only one) to express my displeasure.  It didn't change anything but I felt better.  But now, one week later, I've become so used to Googling the TV listings on my phone (yet another great use for my phone) that I'm not really missing the paper version.  Now I just need to decide if I want to keep getting the paper at all.  Perhaps I'll decide to save a tree, or at least a branch.  

family time

 Today is "Brother and Sister Day."  The very thought brings back lots of sweet memories and a few that are just weird.  For example, on the first day of my senior year in high school, and the first day of freshman year for my oldest brother, dear Mrs. Davis, who had been my math teacher all through high school, and who really liked me, looked at me when I walked into her class that afternoon, shook her finger at me and said "That Cohrs boy who's a freshman, he's not related to you, is he?"  I never learned exactly what he did, so early in the year, to earn her displeasure, but then I really didn't want to know.  I did admit that he was my brother and she just shook her head.  

And then there was my little brother, ten years younger than me.  When I was home for the summer after my first year of teaching, he surprised me one morning with a little gift in my car.  As I put my foot on the gas pedal, I felt something lumpy under my foot.  I took a good look and realized that there was a dead snake wrapped around the pedal.  I got out of that little old Corvair really fast.  And then I went in search of the little culprit.

Sweet memories.

What a Day!

 Today is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day.  And so I have decided, because I really didn't do anything very interesting today, that today is "Take a Break from Blogging Day."  See you tomorrow.

A great new invention??

 Today I was fitted for a new pair of glasses.  Even though my eyes are seeing so much better since my cataract surgery there is still some room for improvement, especially when it comes to help with close work.  With my daughter's help (she is always my fashion consultant when it comes to glasses) I looked at several pairs of glasses.  Because of Covid concerns they have a nifty system.  I was given a box in which to deposit the contaminated (ie. tried on) glasses so they could be sanitized before the next customer.  After trying on several pairs, one of which was cat eye shaped (shades of high school) I found a pair that I really like.  They're not that different than the glasses I was wearing before surgery but I liked those too.  After I made my selection I learned that these particular glasses come with magnetized sun glasses that fit perfectly on the glasses.  What a great idea.  So much better than drugstore clip-ons.  I was so excited about this marvelous new invention.  After I got home, a friend texted me to ask how my appointment went and I excitedly texted her back to tell her about the marvelous magnetized sun glasses.  Her response "Oh yes, I had a pair like that some years ago.  They were nice."  Well, I guess there really is nothing new under the sun, but I'm still excited.  I started wearing glasses when I was seven years old and it's still such fun to get a new pair.