Will You Still Feed Me…
28 July 2010, by gj
Part 2 of 3
Five Years Later (The Aftermath)
Please read Part 1 here
1. I would learn something new, really really new
As I mentioned, the fiddle (or violin, different names, same instrument) is considered the hardest instrument to learn. I refused to give up; though I admit there were many times I wanted to throw it out the window. I couldn’t play along with Mandolin for a long time because I (stunk, squeaked, played the wrong note…pick one, they all fit). So I ended up learning to play an Irish drum or Bodhran (pron. Bo-ron), the guitar, the concertina (just a small 20 button), and the soprano ukulele (I won’t mention the Tin Whistle or Baby Harp at all). Yeah, it’s the personality thing: take it to the extreme 
2. I would do something totally altruistic
I have since thrown another, more successful fundraiser; bringing in over $5000 for an individual’s unexpected funeral expenses at the sudden loss of her husband at age 53. I feel like maybe the first one was the dry-run, it gave me a chance to learn what I needed to do when perhaps it meant more.
3. I would do something I never thought I could do
I play in public all the time now. I’ve taught guitar to a few seniors and run a chorus and band at a local senior center. Mandolin and I play Traditional Irish around St. Pat’s and hold Open Sessions at a local pub. I still get nervous, but it is getting better. (I no longer have the false ‘vibrato’ AKA hand shaking on the fiddle bow). It never ceases to amaze me how this one thing has made such a difference in my life, how much happiness it has brought.
4. I would do something I always wanted to, but never did
I recently added to the tattoo.
It’s too funny. Ten years ago, if you told me that I would have quit smoking cigarettes, be playing and instrument in public and singing, and would have a tattoo…I would either have sat you quietly down (and called the police) or would have checked your veins for holes.
5. I would take one aspect of my life, and make a leap of faith
I love my job. I admit, if I could garden for a living I’d be out of there in a heartbeat, but I couldn’t expect a better job than the one I have. The bad parts are pfff, no big deal; the good parts are way better. And it pays for my gardening addiction
now this is, afterall, a gardening blog; so since I had no pic that fit the content, I chose this one of my fridge...see the bottom 2 drawers stuffed with onions, the colander full of green peppers and the radishes? Oh, and that's Killian's Irish Red on the top shelf getting cold for my birthday Wait- hold the phone- that looks like it has been opened!
So now what? Now I am about to start my 55th year, I will on the occasion of my 54th birthday. No more ‘early 50’s’. Another time for some reassessment and to reinvent.
Again I want to choose 5 things, 5 similar but different things.
For this occasion they will focus more on time passing:
1. Get older, not old
2. Make a difference, a real difference
3. Simplify one aspect of my life (like this is possible?)
4. Plan as if I’ll live to be 108
5. Do the one thing I know I must do
(the particulars coming soon)
Categories: keeping up with the joneses, special holiday posts
Maureen » 31 July 2010, 11:12 am