Musings

I haven’t written in a while, due in a large part to the fact that my family and I took our Christmas vacation in Florida, escaping for a couple of weeks from the Michigan winter. We stayed with my in laws, who own a mobile home in Lakeland in a park for retirees 55 and older. Now one might think that staying in a mobile home park surrounded by old folks would be boring, but in fact if one is willing to temporarily adopt the local lifestyle, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Every Monday night they play euchre. For money. For those of you unfamiliar with euchre, its a fast card game played with partners. Okay, it only cost a quarter to play, and you don’t stand to win much, but the game is fun and the players compete as if there were hundreds of dollars at stake. I won fifty cents.

Nearly every day there is competitive shuffle boarding. Sometimes it’s a “pin game,” where there is a modified bowling pin on each end of the court. It costs a dime to play, and a nickel every time you knock down the pin. I won seventy five cents. Some of the players are actual pros. I didn’t even know there was a such thing as a professional shuffleboard player, but there is and several of them live in that Lakeland park.

Wednesday morning is bowling. Most of the residents who participated bowled better than I did. Wednesday night is bingo. I think I’m the only one in my family who didn’t win a game. Again, the stakes are small – fifty cents gets you 6 cards, and you play 8 or 10 regular games plus a couple of specials.

Thursday nights is for playing bid euchre – a variation where each player has to bid for the right to name trump. I won a dime.

We didn’t go to Florida to go to any of the expensive theme parks – we’ve done all that before. We didn’t go for the night life or to mingle with the jet set, we went to relax and enjoy the weather. I didn’t get any writing done, but I did a lot of reading, made some friends among the Grandmas and Grandpas there, and came home relaxed and refreshed.

Recently I submitted a blog entry to LiquidWordProductions for their December topic, which called for entries on things you feel you can’t live without. My submission was rejected, so I’ve decided to publish it here.

I Can’t Live Without… Music!

Confucius said “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” I would agree. Music can raise our spirits, pull at our heartstrings, or get our toes tapping and fingers snapping. Few things can unite a group of people quite like the bond they feel when the instruments they’re playing seperately – the highs, the lows, the rythms and the melodies – combine to create the music that moves us. Voices raised in unison can sweep the thoughts and emotions of listeners away on flights of fancy, but no less so for the singers!

A common question among school children is “Which of the five senses would you choose to give up if you had to pick one?” Then the usual follow-up question is “Which one would you be least willing to lose.” To the visually impaired, this is going to seem incredibly naïve, and no doubt sudden blindness would be a devastating catastrophe, but I could not bear to give up the joy of music. I’ve seen great works of art. I’ve seen magnificent vistas, vibrant sunsets in the plains, and brilliant rainbows. These visions were awe inspiring, without a doubt. And yet, the tapestries created in my mind by the harmonies of a talented acapella quartet would be more difficult to sacrifice.

An endless variety of styles, genres, instruments, voices, and cultures means that there is always something new to discover, something different and exciting to which to listen. From the haunting melody of a violin playing a simple Irish folk solo to the glorious crescendo of a great symphony, or from the driving beat of a hard rocker to the twang of an old cowhand belting out a trail ballad, or even the rythmic rhymes of a street rapper, there is never a shortage of musical choices, no reason to tire of listening to the same old thing all of the time.

Without food, water, and shelter, our bodies wither and die. Could I live without music? Certainly. But without the transcending power of music and the beauty of song, life would seem so much the less worth living.