Salina Meditations

    Tomorrow is the first Sunday of February. I had planned to return to my Music as Meditation Schedule, but priorities I often forget to pay attention to caused me to change my mind. I am spending some time in my hometown--Salina, Kansas, instead. Don't come to Christ Church tomorrow. I do hope to be back at the Steinway in beautiful North Conway on the first Sunday in March. In the meantime, I'm engaging in some Salina Meditations.

    Today is a beautiful spring day; I know the calendar does not indicate spring on this groundhog day, but the temperature and the humidity do. If I lived here, I would be tempted to plant some peas today in the hopes that I would get a very early crop. The air is rich with moisture, the sidewalks are wet, and the ground smells like Kansas. 

     This morning I played Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano in my childhood living room with grand-niece who is seven years old. She just had her first piano recital, shepherded into this experience by my sister who is also a piano teacher. Later today, my sister and I will likely make some family music. 

     Every time I visit my family and this town I am grateful for the strong heritage the "accident" of my birth gave me. I drew my first breath in a musical family living in a musical town. I began piano lessons even before I could really read words, making music a language as natural to me as the brand of English people speak out here, giving extra vowels to many syllables and making a breathy sound at the beginnings of WH words. I even heard my mother say "strip-ed" (two syllables!) yesterday. 

    So instead of a Musical Meditation this month, I offer you a photo meditation of my hometown. I just wish you could hear the accent embedded in the photo captions. 

Yes, Grain elevators really do look like that. 

You can't really see the mural painted on the glass windows that top this Art-Deco warehouse in the North end, but they always remind me of the art classes I attended in those warehouse buildings.

I'm fascinated with this old warehouse building which belonged to the Lee company. I've taken many artsy pictures of it over the years. This is the latest.

This is the bike bike rack stationed at the City's new "Field House."I love its self-referential nature. 

And this is home.

I'll see you all in March. Several people are planning to play with me. We'll have some violin and piano music, and some flute and piano music. Who knows what else the Kansas light and landscape will inspire.