My last blog post was just before Christmas, more than four months ago. I kept meaning to write but since I wasn’t sketching it seems to take a low priority in the things to do queue.
In that last post I talked about how COVID work loads on our hospital system cancelled the knee surgery I was supposed to have back in September. Since then, every once in a while (during a lull of COVID cases) my surgery was rescheduled and then cancelled again when another spike of cases came along. Seems that postponed cancer operations and such have a higher priority than a knee operation on an old man. Go figure (grin). And so, my knee has just gotten worse and worse and I can’t do much walking at all.
So my decision to spend time learning music (and attempting to learn how to play classical ukulele) was a good one. I can sit and study, play and generally be sufficiently distracted from the world so this pandemic couldn’t depress me… too much.
Anyways, these have been my tools for the past few months. I now own three ukuleles and these are the two I play most.
I split my time between coming to grips with music theory and teaching my fingers to play what I want them to play. My old, arthritic fingers are winning the battle but it’s a battle that’s really fun.
The good news is that my surgery is actually going to happen next Wednesday. This should mean a few weeks of post-op physiotherapy and then I’ll be walking again. Eventually I may even be able to get back to sketching on the streets. Hope so. Sorry about the lack of posts.
I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to! Good to hear that music is keeping you busy. Soon you’ll have enough ukuleles to match your pen collection. 😉 Take care and heal quickly.
Yesh, it’s been lots of fun, though I do miss wandering the city with a pen. As for my ukulele collection, it’s much the same as pens. If you stick to the cheap ones you can own a lot of them but when you get a taste for “good” the wallet quickly deflates and the buying spree ends 🙂
PHEW so Wednesday huh! So happy that it’s finally going to happen. Your poor knee must be tingling with excitement I’m sending you wishes for a successful surgery and PT and look forward to posts and sketches about your escapades when you are mobile again.
My knee is “tingling” but it feels more like irritation and anger to me. Hopefully it will be happier after they take a knife to it.
Good to hear you’ll soon have a new knee. And maybe be sketching again. And glad you’ve had something interesting and productive to fill your time.
The music thing opened a new door for me, into a world that is not dissimilar to sketching. There are lots of people who want to “do it” and not bother with “learning it.” There are others who take it to new heights with their dedication. The first group seems insistent on the “there are no rules” mantra, playing every song with the same four chords (grin). I hope to get back to sketching before summer is over.
Hi Larry. Aren’t ukes fun. I bought a couple when I broke my shoulder and couldn’t hold my guitars. It’s hard not to smile when in the company of a ukulele.
On another topic, I wanted to thank you for encouraging me to get my pilot falcon with de atramentis ink. That pen makes me smile a bit as well.
Just got out of the hospital so I’ll keep this short.
Yes, ukes are great, particularly for my purposes. I’m not much of a 4-chord strummer type but I love the portability.
I lovr my Falcon, though I confess that in the last year or so I’ve used it very little. Instead I’ve been using very cheap, XF Chinese pens so I don’t have to worry about losing them while I’m out on the streets.
Cheers — Larry
I have missed you, Larry. Glad you had your surgery and looking forward to reading more of your posts. Interesting to think about how learning music is similar to learning to sketch.