Wednesday, October 3, 2012

As time goes by...


This is as close as we get to the sea these days.

All night long, we hear it roar and crash on rocky shores.
Its rhythm  lulls us to sleep every night, loud enough to hush all thoughts.

Its smell is the first thing I notice in the morning, before I make my strong dark brew, as I wash the french press and water my deck plants with the remains of the grounds. I used to sit out in the mornings when we first moved here, fascinated by all the drama out there, the rolling waves, the thundering surf.  I'd sit in my robe and a big blanket and sip my first cup of coffee still in the dark sometimes, sky above, streaks of light from the surf spraying over the rocks below.

This I can still do, for as long as I want, I declare each time I open the sliding door to let the cat out and throw away the old grounds from the urn.

Strength may be slow in returning, I say to my husband as he stops and sits out to recover after a few yards during our daily walks.

It will return, he says with confidence.

We practice our violin for fifteen-twenty minutes a day,(a violin/fiddle we began learning last winter, to get out of our heads, to begin living again!), between television shows, between Jeopardy and The Daily Show. We tune and adjust the instruments for five minutes, do scales for five, attempt a tune for ten. Even before the time is up, my fingers begin to ache, my shoulders too. I stop, go to the bathroom, check the time before declaring myself too tired to continue.

Look, this is a simple tune, he says, before I leave the room,  handing me a sheet of music- Mary Has a Little Lamb- all marked with numbers and letters. Ohhhh! I can do this!!!!

And I try.
And it does sound like the original tune.
How did you know  what numbers and letters go where?
Ah, I read the notations and I wrote them down with numbers for you.
I wish I could read music, I say.
You will...







11 comments:

  1. Yes ,, you will, he is right.

    My dream is to one day live where I can hear surf pounding, watch waves crashing .. maybe.

    Just had my flute refurbished, sheet music propped on the antique music stand ... but my mouth needs practice. It takes muscles to play flute ... thankfully I do read music.

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  2. What a lovely location. Reminds me to slide the keyboard from it plastic case under the bed. I used to be able to play "Ebb Tide" and tell myself...I should practice more.

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  3. what can i say? i see the same love that aline must have had with her beau, aged and intensified over years))))and i see two people very much alive.

    you would laugh, my son just learned this song on his recorder. (liam is ten:) well, this is not all, roasaria. he has taken his new skill and upped it - taught himself to play it through his nose! now what will you and your husband do? :)

    your husband's changing the musical notations to numbers for you just about breaks my heart. fortifies it too)))

    xo
    erin

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  4. a beautiful view! and keeping active is so important.

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  5. I used to play the violin ages ago (middle school is what I think they call it now). A little bit of encouragement, and I might still be playing, along with my son and grandchildren. As it is, I still have my five-stringed banjo, and I occasionally play it.

    Your view of the ocean is spectacular! Listening to the sea at night; watching it in the morning with your coffee. An elegant life is, I think, how I would describe it. You are so fortunate.

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  6. What a beautiful header! I too like the sounds of waves and rushing water. Perhaps that why a trout stream attract me the most....:)

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  7. I can almost hear the surf roaring. Please don't be down; strength will return... I have faith.

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  8. My love for instruments <3 it is the way to connect to this world. Music!

    I was in third grade when my parents bought this small little organ for me that had numbers on every key and came with a book that had each song showing the notes but with a number so I could learn. I had it memorized in no time so my parents bought me and piano, I took piano lessons... and so my love began for music and it has never stopped.

    I envy your view...

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  9. Living here is such a treat, every moment of every day!
    If we had remained in Los Angeles, first, I could not, and would not ever be able to communicate out loud the way I do on this blog.
    Second, it would never occur to me that life could be so serene, so peaceful. All we heard, day and night, were the mechanical sounds of people in cars, down the street, in the distant freeway.

    Thanks for your visit, dear friends. I hope one day some of you can come this far west, and spend some time here with us. You have an open invitation.

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  10. That is an amazing view, Rosaria, and I reckon you and your husband are pretty amazing too - starting to learn the violin in retirement. :-)

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