My Guitar

I won’t be long writing my blog. You see, tonight is a perfect night to sit on my front porch and play my guitar. It’s been a hot day and the cool air from the river is wafting up on the veranda.

I started playing guitar about 20 years ago. There were several years where I hardly picked it up after the first couple of terms of taking it at night school. I had gotten to the point where there were chords I just couldn’t play and I was getting tired of playing songs with only three or four chords. Also, I was frustrated because many songs I wanted to play were too difficult.

It wasn’t until I started substitute teaching that I grabbed my guitar and started playing it again.

I take it to school for several reasons.

To start, it is a hook that helps get the kids quiet. If they want to hear me play, they have to be quiet and finish their work early.

Next, it relaxes me. Substitute teaching is not easy. Some classes put me through the paces. Cradling my instruments in my arms takes my mind off the problems around me. The music takes me away to another place. Concentrating on the strings makes me focus on the immediate task, not all the other stuff that is happening around me.

Third, often I have time at school where I have a spare, but have nobody to talk to. This gives me something to do.

You know what? Through the years I have slowly gotten better. Songs that were a mystery for me are suddenly playable. How I got to this more elevated level, I don’t know. It has been one small, unrecognizable step after another.

Now my guitar is one of my best friends. So, if you will excuse me, I have an appointment with it on my front porch.