Losing a Loved One

My mother-in-law died on December 13, 2016.  I found out as I was driving a bunch of teenagers from seminary to the high school.  I held back the tears as they chit-chatted.  Then, when they had all left the car and it was just me and William, the tears flowed.  I will miss her dearly.  She was a model mother-in-law and was always so kind and loving to me.

I received a hand-written note on December 13 that she had mailed a few days earlier.  The contents of the note for now will remain private, but suffice it to say that I will always treasure the note and her love for me.

Since bereavement fairs on all airlines are no favor to those experiencing bereavement, we decided to drive.  We were already purchasing 4 tickets so that our married children could attend the funeral and we also needed to get our college son back to Virginia.  It was a 24 hour drive each way (with stops).

I was very grateful for the support of the Serenada Ward in Georgetown Texas for their help and hospitality.  Several of the members hosted families including us.  It was comfortable and a welcome respite from the emotional loss we were experiencing.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and the ward members had helped out with lasagna and then we went over to the viewing.  I enjoyed visiting with friends and relatives. 

I'm grateful for my belief that life continues after death.  I believe that I will see her again.  I believe that she is busy in her work with others who have passed on from this life.

Learning to play the Harmonica

Inspired by my book club's book this month, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan,  Goodreads review
I decided that I wanted to learn to play the harmonica.

Week 1: Practice time (Th=1 hour, Fri=1 hour, Sunday=30 min, Monday=30 minutes, Tuesday=10 min.)
This will be an on-going post as I learn new things.  My first goal was to be able to play a single note melody.  Youtube videos were my source.

Recommended Harmonicas
I did a little research on a good one to buy and went looking for some good prices on the internet.  I purchased a Chicago Blues Diatonic Harmonica in the key of C for about $8 on Amazon Prime and it arrived two days later.

Based on the list link below, mine is in the "acceptable, but not recommended, hard to learn on" category.  I wish I had seen this earlier.  Oh well. I can do it!

List of recommended harmonicas

Single Note Production

Methods for getting a sound

1. Tongue method--Successful on day 1 after about an hour.  I experimented with pressing the point of my tongue against the vertical slats between the numbered holes and was able to produce a single sound.

Reasons to tongue block:  Lee Sankey demo.

a. play octaves by blocking in the middle and playing out both sides of your tongue.

b. tongue flutters--moving tongue side to side

c. rhythmic flexibility--

d.  tone--better sound

e.  maneuverability for getting from one note to another (over large intervals--advocating using both TB and Puckering/Pursing methods)

f.  the best harmonica players use it :)

2. Tilting--I was successful on Sunday night (day 3) by tilting the harmonica up toward my upper lip and blowing from the bottom of the harmonica.

3. Pucker method--Monday morning (day 4):  working on this.  Having some success.  I think this will ultimately me the most successful to use for future progress.  (see description in the link above for how to make this work).   Wednesday (day 6): I'm better at blowing a single note than drawing a single note.

Monday night:  I can play Ode to Joy with a single note with accompaniment only at this link.  The tilt method and tongue method are both successful.  The pucker method still isn't very clean--yet)!
Ode to Joy with Accompaniment



Producing a Chromatic Scale--"Bending"

Monday Morning (day 4): Of course, once I could play single notes, I was no longer satisfied with just playing in the key of C Major.  So, now I'm exploring how to bend the notes.  Still not successful. . . . . will let you know when I can.



reference for graphic

1. Looks like the beginner method is "tilting" the harmonica.

2.  I've also seen hints about saying "ee" on the regular note and then "oo" on the bend. (Wednesday day 6):  having some limited success with this method as I experiment.

How to Play the Harmonica