Merry Christmas!

It's that time again!

Yes, time for a little holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays to all of you who travel along with us on "Banana Winds". 

We'll see you in 2020!

 

Are We Becoming Landlubbers?

So, this happened yesterday.

It started out kind of as a daydream.

What with the recent purchase of a boat, The Tiki Hut, we have become more lake-oriented. So it was natural that one day we would buy a house on the lake.

But as we casually looked around, we realized that was beyond our reach.

So then we started looking at houses in the “lake area”.

Still nothing.

But, you know, the more you look at something, the more you want it.

At some point we convinced ourselves it was time to own our own house.

Captain’s Note: During our married life, we have always lived in a church-provided house = “parsonage”. And the First Mate is a P.K. (*preacher’s kid), so with the exception of only a couple years of her life, she has always lived in a parsonage.

Parsonages are convenient for those of us who move frequently, but they are never our own.

And, after 30+ years, there is no equity to show either.

But house hunting is nothing like the TV shows, where a hustling realtor shows you three houses that fit your needs and you pick on of them.

And, we don't have the budget some of those people do either.

 

Captain’s Note: By the way, the TV shows are phony. The buyers have already decided on the house they will buy, then they must find two more houses (sometimes even belonging to a friend, not for sale) for the TV realtor to show them.

House hunting is more like a thrift shop – you never know what the stock is going to be on any given day.

And we looked at a lot of houses!

So the search began in earnest.

We like the town we currently live in – wide open spaces – so we considered some houses nearby.

Then we decided to find a happy medium between her work and mine.

Still nothing satisfactory.

We were just about to put the “house hunt” on a hiatus when we found this one.

The First Mate was taken as soon as we walked in the front door and saw this.

The Captain was sold when we found the 1,275 square feet of unfinished basement space!

There were many sleepless nights along the journey as we walked through the process of inspections and securing a loan.

Our bank now knows more about the Captain than I know about myself!

But the pieces fell together relatively quickly and yesterday we met with realtors and lawyers and bankers at the bank to sign reams of papers to make home ownership a reality for us!

Home Sweet Home!

Di You Ever Think About It?

The Captain and First Mate took our niece to the symphony last night.

She plays the viola in the middle school orchestra. We were hoping for some inspiration.

Some day she will be up on that stage!

My mind began to wander as I listened to our community orchestra back up Philadelphia Orchestra’s concertmaster David Kim as he performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

Did you ever think about it? 

Felix Mendelssohn composed this concerto in 1844.

That was 175 years ago.

Perhaps the mutton chops and big flouncy bow give that away...

Imagine the creative process: Mendelssohn hears music in his head.

Granted, the Captain hears music in his head all the time.

But usually it’s something along the lines of “The Baby Elephant Walk” or “Wipe Out”…

And then there is the tinnitus… but that’s a blog for another day.

Using a special set of dots and lines, Mendelssohn is able to put that tune down on paper in a way that someone else can perform exactly as Mendelssohn heard it!

Captain’s Note: In the orchestra world, there is little room for deviation or ad libbing. You play the notes the way the composer wrote them!

Another reason the Captain could never be in an orchestra!

But not only Did Mendelssohn jot down a melody, he heard in his mind and wrote down unique parts for a variety of instruments – each with its own specific town and reverb – that, when put together, would become an amazing work of art.

Last night there were a dozen violins, maybe twenty violas, a half-dozen cellos, and a row of upright bass, as well as numerous wind instruments and timpani – each reading Mendelssohn’s dots and lines… and making beautiful music!

Mendelssohn was able to notate when to bring in the oboes, and where to put a rumble of kettle drums, and the exact perfect place for a single “tink” on a triangle.

And through this process, our amazingly talented community orchestra was able to perform a concerto last night that some guy heard in his head 175 years ago!

Just the way he heard it back then!

Did you ever think about it?

The Captain was impressed.