Saturday, June 21, 2008 - I Remember Laura ~ Books & Music
Week four will be about sharing books and music. Laura had a great love of books and music. Books were a rare treat in Laura's young life and she devoured them when she could get them. Music was a part of her every day life be it Ma humming as she worked, Pa's fiddle playing in the evenings, the family singing together, or Mary's organ music. What songs and books are special to you. Do you have a favorite memory that you associate with a book or song? Link up this week and share it. Also, tell why you love the Little House books and any memories you have associated with them.
I am going to start with the music in my life as a girl. At eight I learnt to play piano for a few years. I think the piano was going cheap in the next village to ours. I lived on a farm then. Every week my Mum drove me about 16 miles to go to my lessons. After I started High School I was able to get off the bus there. Mum brought along a snack for me after the lessons finished. My uncle gave me a guitar to use, a very nice one and I was able to get lessons at the next village I mentioned. I still have all my music books. Our house had an old grammophone and sometimes I played it. Sometimes I hear music that reminds me of those heavy records. Sometimes we played, the children I played with, an organ that was in a church that wasn't used. Eventually the church was decommissioned.
My uncle taught dancing in our village. He taught various styles.
When I got married, just before this I had bought a pedal organ and it was the first piece of furniture I bought for our new life together. My husband's family have one as well. My Nana had a keyboard that I played when I was a girl. Also a piano. She loved to play A Bicycle Built for Two. My Grandpa liked to whistle along to any songs I played on the organ/keyboard. He actually played mouth organ and I think fiddle. My Nana's parents liked to play piano, both enjoyed entertaining people at dances I think.
After the organ, my husband and I bought a piano. It turned out not to be a good one, so we tried again. The children also received a modern keyboard for Christmas. At the moment there are no piano lessons available here, but my 11 year old daughter is learning clarinet and she really enjoys it. She plays in the Junior School Band.
After my Dad died recently I was contacted by a childhood friend. I remembered how much fun she and her sisters had playing a detailed version of chopsticks and things like that. They had a guitar and button accordion at their home that I used to visit. I also at one time had a Jews Harp.
I think the most fun we had with music a few years ago was related to ballet. The first concert my eldest daughters were involved in included Morning Mood. My husband happened to have that music in our house. I love ballet music.
There are more music memories than I imagined. My eldest son learnt piano for awhile. When the lessons got hard to manage moneywise I let it drop. I vowed never to do that again. So when my second one started I continued on for many years. When he was 12 he got a very high mark in an exam in Melbourne. Prior to this before we moved there, (to the outskirts of Melbourne in the country) he was involved in an Anglican choir. He was either at practise or church three days a week. He didn't enjoy piano in the end, which was sad for me. My eldest daughter learnt piano, clarinet and even though she doesn't learn at the moment she will often play the piano when she feels like it.
I must mention my step-son as well. He learnt the snare drum and played in the Highland band, and also learnt to sing at the choir. This was also something that I organised.
My husband learnt a lot of hymns when he was young and has a good singing voice. He still likes 60s music but I must say I am just about over Queen. It is funny though, that song was worked into a dance performance too. It was Red Riding Hood and there were a lot of boy dancers who were the wolves, so this was the song they came in on. My daughter was on the stage as a ballerina, and the boys were suppose to ruin their dance. Then the girls went into rap, and my daughter did the worm in her tutu. I was very happy lately at her gym class witnessing her skill doing this, she is still very good at it. So dance flowed on to gym.
My husband also has a trumpet and our second son also was very good at playing those sorts of instruments.
We didn't have a CD player in the car until mid 2004, and I thought I didn't need one, but it is a great joy to me, especially since I sometimes have to drive reasonably long distances. Well actually regularly 50 minutes and other times 1 1/2 hours, occasionally over 2 hours. Also to our new house. I like country music if I can get some that is not too non-child friendly. Some of the music reminds me of the dance music that I danced to as a teenager as the country had a lot of old time dances that all ages attended, it also included New Years Eve dances etc. Lee Kernaghan in particular is good for this. I couldn't believe when I watched CMC Rocks the Snowys in some ways how much good dance music seems to go to waste.
My Dad liked country music, but I haven't remembered which songs yet, usually I know when I hear them.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder books are very calming, that is why I read them. These have led on to reading Janette Oke and recently made me aware that I love all kinds of authors in the Historical Christian fiction genre. It has also opened up the Janette Oke movies to me through the internet and great libraries.
I haven't read the two outside books, but the Lauraine Snelling books are excellent. I still love hearing about Dakota.
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Posted by Miss Sandy
Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Tania