A Mentor for Alex

Over the past two years, Alex (also known as "A") has been going through a piano tuning course, practicing on our own piano and tuning the pianos of friends whenever he gets the chance. But he always felt like he was missing something. He needed a teacher, a mentor, and had called a few local tuners to see if they would be willing to take an apprentice. All said no.

Last week, a friend put Alex in contact with an elderly man who is moving out of his home. This man is blind, and had been a piano tuner for 40 years. He had a lifetime of knowledge and piano tuning and repair equipment  in his home, and all he wanted was a worthy person to pass it all down to. Alex is over the moon to be that person.

And so the 80-year-old man whose hearing isn't what it used to be, who hadn't been down to his basement in three years, took Alex down there, blew the dust off a room full of tools and told Alex he could have it all, if Alex would just tune his piano.

He came home with old bottles of then-locally-made lubricants and glues,

antique tins full of tiny instruments used in piano repair,

...and more tools than Alex could  have ever hoped to acquire. Some of them cream of the crop, some clever hand-made inventions of a master of his trade. 

Their weekly meetings are now the thing that Alex looks forward to most, and each week he returns home with boxes of this kind man's lifetime career. Yes, he comes home with his arms (and truck!) full, but I can see that he is full, too. His spirit is soaring, and his brain is buzzing with the knowledge the man is so generously giving him—a lifetime of tips, tricks, and secrets. My husband is brimming with possibilities again, and it is good. 

This Moment

Hoppin' on board the Soule Mama train this week to share this moment.

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Learning

There's been lots of learning going on around here. From raw food to instrument maintenance, our recent explorations have run the gamut.

"A," an avid jazz pianist, is learning to tune pianos. This is not the beautiful music we are used to hearing on a daily basis. This is a lot of bent notes and piercing, almost screeching sounds, played over and over until the notes are brought back to their soothing songs. And once the entire piano is properly tuned, he takes it back out of tune, and starts all over. Practice makes perfect, right? I'll keep telling myself that.

The girls have been learning to draw with charcoal. The smudging, blending, and erasing has opened up lots of new creative exploration in their art.

We're participating the the Green Smoothie Challenge, experimenting with different combinations of kale, apples, mangoes, chard, and bananas, so far. Surprisingly yummy, though not all of them have been a success. On to spinach!

This year, I'm learning to start my seedlings under lights. The south-facing windows have left much to be desired from my seedlings in previous springs. Hopefully, the heat and constant light will yield beefier plants—if I don't fry them first with the scorching fake sunlight, like last year.

I'd love to hear what new things you've been learning and experimenting with. Let me know!

"Craftsman/Piano Playing Coffee Barista?"

"Craftsman/piano playing coffee barista"—that is how my good friend recently described my husband. As a major creative force in our home, I think it's time you got to know him.

He is a carpenter by trade and an artist in all aspects of his life. Having him as part of our family is good in so many ways. We get live piano performances daily, custom made furniture to fit the wonky spaces in our old house, home made candy (his sweet tooth benefits us all in that way), and lattes or cappuccinos whenever we (ok, I) need one.

His current wood shop projects include chess pieces, a bench to go with the table he recently completed, and a banjo. Yup, he's making a banjo.

So that's him in a nutshell. Now that you've heard a bit about this endlessly talented man I get to call my husband, you'll feel like you know him when I include him in future posts. His projects and experiences leave me no shortage of expertly crafted items and interesting stories to blog about. Tune in soon to see more of his work...