Music My Dear

What's new in my music world? Harp music! My sister sent me a harp for Christmas 2005, and it took until a couple of weeks ago to find a tuning wrench (in Oregon, thanks to the internet) to fit the pins. Now, I'm trying to learn how to play. I have a whole new appreciation for harp music, and love it so much! Lucky for me I can read music, so now, the challenge is finger coordination with vertical strings. In this picture, on the day I received the harp, I have it propped up on the wrong shoulder, but I was determined to play a song immediately.

Speaking of harpers, Loreena McKennitt's forthcoming new album! She's been traveling the world, to collect new inspiration and influences on her music. I can't wait to get the cd. Here's the scoop on McKennitt--once you get to the page, check out her e-card, which is a short video with a music clip:
http://www.quinlanroad.com/homepage/index.asp? LangType=1033

And just because it's the middle of September, here's a poem by Gary Snyder (from "The Gary Snyder Reader"). Snyder is a wonderful environmentalist, and even better poet.

For All

Ah to be alive
on a mid-September morn
fording a stream
barefoot, pants rolled up
holding boots, pack on,
sunshine, ice in the shallows,
northern rockies.

Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters
stones turn underfoot, small and hard as toes
cold nose dripping
singing inside
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel.

I pledge allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the soil
of Turtle Island,
and to the beings who thereon dwell
one ecosystem
in diversity
under the sun
With joyful interpenetration for all.
-----------------------
A nice play on the Pledge of Allegiance, I really don't think this is unpatriotic, any more than I think Thoreau was unpatriotic. He was a cool dude, too. Here's a brief bio on the American poet/naturalist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoreau Check him out, even if you think you know everything about him.

Looking forward to Fall...