Sunday, September 19, 2021

Friendship, an owl, piano lessons, and kayaking

National Women's Friendship Day has been observed the third Sunday in September since 1999.  So today, as the name suggests, is our day to express gratitude for all our women friends.  Let's share some names (it's okay to share only first names).  Who is your best friend?  Or which woman has been your friend the longest — and still is?  Ginny is the one I thought of first.  I met Ginny in August 1955, when I started high school by attending marching band practice at City High School (CHS).  Officially, CHS means Chattanooga High School.  Ginny was a year ahead of me in school, and we are only the same age from April until August, when she gains a year.  She has visited me here in St. Louis, and I've visited her in Tallahassee.  Let's see, 1955 to 2021 is ... wow! ... 66 years that we've been friends!  Love ya, Ginny!

A gorgeous owl ~ Someone shared this photo of an owl on NextDoor, our neighborhood group.  Those who chimed in seem to agree that it's a barred owl, after arguing that it is not a barn owl (which is smaller) or a great horned owl (which is larger and "has feather tufts on its head — the so-called horns").  Anyway, I think this is a beautiful picture of an owl, whatever kind it is.

Learn to Play Piano in Six Weeks or Less ~ by Dan Delaney and Bill Chotkowski, 2009, self-help, 111 pages.  

I've made the photo small because I'm not happy with this book.  It is not really a beginner's book, but a fake book.  Do you know what that is?
fake book /fāk bo͝ok/ noun = a book of music containing the basic chord sequences of jazz or other tunes.
The first sentence in the Introduction even admits that it's a fake book:
"Throw away your bass clef and give your left hand a break — melodies in the right hand, chords and rhythms in the left hand."

This looks like a beginner's book, and in one sense it is.  But the women who bought it so I can teach them how to play the piano will be learning only half of what I expected to teach them.  It's something.  It's a beginning of sorts, but I feel like I'll have to either come up with a way to teach them how to play with the left hand or get us "real" piano books that teach fingering for the bass clef.

My daughters have taken up kayaking.
No, I wasn't out on the water with them. 
One of them took this photo of the other.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The 
Sunday Salon.  Bloggers gather in the 
Sunday Salon — at separate computers 
in different time zones — to talk about 
our lives, our books, and our reading.

11 comments:

Gretchen said...

I have a couple of friends that I can always pick up with no matter how long it has been since we have seen one another - Colleen and Karen.

That is an amazing picture of an owl! I hear an owl in the woods behind our house, but have never spotted it.

Have a good week!

Elza Reads said...

I didn't know about the Friendship day thing! I have a couple of good friends who I've been great friends with for 20 odd years and a few on the 10 year mark. We are only living in our current location for about 4 years now, but I have some wonderful friends here too.

Thanks for letting us know!

Have a good week ahead Bonnie.

Elza Reads

stacybuckeye said...

Amy is my oldest friend and the last text I sent :) My son is learning the piano, but his books are pretty basic.
No owls here, but we've had a coyote on our street this week!

Vicki said...

I didn't even know there was a National Women's Friendship Day. How is that possible? Melody, Toni, Janet, Connie, Kathy, & Donna have been my best friends since I was in elementary/jr high. Karen was too but sadly she passed away a few years ago.

I love owls and that is a beauty!

Wow, a fake "learn to play" book. If I had bought that book I wouldn't be very happy.

We've talked about going kayaking for a long time but haven't done it yet. That is a beautiful photo, I hope your daughters are loving kayaking!

I hope you have a great week!

Helen's Book Blog said...

I love that you and Ginny have been friends for 66 years! My longest term friend is Kristen and we've been friends since we were 2 years old, which is 54 years. Pretty amazing to have these wonderful women in our lives!

I agree that you need to get a proper piano book that includes BOTH hands. :-)

Emily said...

Yes, get those ladies a real book. They can learn chords along with all the notes .
We have been friends for about 15 years 😊
Owls are great snake killers.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

I don't remember exactly, Emily, but at least that long. I enjoyed our nice long phone chat this morning, a perfect "friendship" day to call me. 😊

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Emily, we met when I worked at the bookstore in Trenton, which was before Donna and I opened our bookstore in 2004. So closer to 17-18 years now. 😊

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I uploaded your photo of the owl into iNaturalist, and put in your location and approximate date of the photo, and it definitely came back with Barred Owl. I love using that app.

Wow. Friends since 1955. My oldest friend is Sally who was born about six months before I was in 1956 and who lived across the street with me then. We've been friends all my life (almost 65 years) and her dad just passed away at 102, so we may make some kind of friendship record.

I learned guitar from a children's book, and it was perfect for me. I always wanted to learn to play the piano...

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Thanks for checking, Deb. I'll have to check out iNaturalist, which is new to me. I did Google and look at all three kinds of owls mentioned, and it was obvious (to me, at least) that it's a barred owl.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

It's a fun app, and you can use it on your computer or even on the go on your phone.