Heather S. Ingemar's Blog, page 47

Some days, other people make me feel like this

The latest addition to my ukulele case button collection, loaned to me by a fellow musician friend.

Quiet, lazy Sunday

I am sitting here listening to the ski traffic outside while cuddling my cup of Earl Grey tea. The snow is melting — hallelujah! — which means less worry about new calves getting frostbite, and less worry about flash floods in a few days if all the rain the weather man is predicting actually hits.

This morning I pulled Enna, my uke, from her case and practiced with the mic and amp for about an hour. Then I sat down and worked on the dreaded tax stuff for a while until now, when I'm taking a bit of a break to write this.

So far, I haven't had any huge urges to write — it's just been busy day after busy day, getting things ready for my music students and practicing for my upcoming gigs. Sometime this year, however, I want to polish that gargoyle story (aka. "Adrian and Grace") that's been floating between my 'retired' folder and my 'active' folder for the last five years (FIVE?? EEEKK!).

For now, though, it's just a lazy little Sunday.

Productive, awesome day

I absolutely LOVE it when my planets are all aligned (or when my happy, good-luck pisces fish is up, or when my Chinese zodiac Ox is frolicking, or… whatever).

My week thus far:

Picked up a new student.
My latest short story, "The Middle of Nowhere," is now up on Amazon AND Barnes & Noble.
We just had four more happy, healthy baby calves.
Got a mention in the newspaper about a music gig I'm doing.
Got a hug from one of the kids that comes in frequently at work.
Spent some quality time with Hubby.
Been on the receiving end of honest, awesome, sincere flattery!!
Was contacted by a business about a day-after-St.-Paddie's gig, which I accepted.
Was contacted by a local winery about performing, and they booked me — not just for one gig — but for FOUR performances this summer, which I also accepted.

What. A. Week!

Everything in good time

The Balrog a-snooze in her case after a lengthy practice & writing session

So, it's the end of four days with The Balrog, and she's really growing on me. I'm enjoying how responsive she is, how much fun she is when she gets all growly (I had no idea how much versatility an electric guitar HAS!), and, in general, how she's challenging me to live by the "Play it like you stole it" frame of mind. (Can we say, "Irish pub songs on steroids"??) She doesn't take to a weak player. You have to MEAN it.

I think I'll become a better guitarist in the process.

Tonight, we sat down and wrote a song together. It was fun and theraputic, and just a nice thing to do on a Wednesday evening.

The further I get back into playing music, the more I'm reminded of how everything seems to happen in its own good time. I've said this before, but I NEVER would have thought to write music when I was younger. The idea was too completely… alien… to me. Songwriting was something big-wigs did. Not little old me. Likewise, I never, EVER would have considered writing short stories for publication, even when I was getting high marks of praise for creative writing projects in High School. The idea was out of my parlance.

The timing (obviously) wasn't right.

Fast-forward through college, through life, through maturing into the individual I am today… and not only am I doing BOTH of those things, I'm enjoying them immensely, as if they were simply play.

It just goes to show you, that just like waiting until the exact right moment until you play that note, the things we do in life seem to wait for us to catch up to them. (So if you're out there debating about doing something out-of-the-ordinary, don't be shy! The time may well be exactly perfect for it!)

In other news… It's been snowing here non-stop for the last three days. Brrr. I thought we were done with this snow stuff! Ah well. I suspect it's Winter's "last hurrah" before all the greenery sprouts like gangbusters. Good thing we worked our cows and gave them all their shots/vitamins when we did (it was sunny and not too cold). I do NOT want to be outside any more than necessary at the moment!

Walk lyrics

These lyrics have been bopping around in my head for the last three weeks, and they only just fell into place last night. The tune came this evening. Onward & Upward!

You bent over backward

Just trying to please

They fed you all the lines, all the cuts and the jibes;

Every word, you believed (but you need to)

CHORUS:

Walk with your head held high

Don't let them see you cry

You're better than that

'Cause you're better than that

And someday, you're gonna fly

So walk

Walk with your head held high

They told you all the time

You're just a waste of space

No matter how you try, they delight in your shame

And the hurt can't be erased (but you've got to)

CHORUS

It's hard to stand free of their shadow

But you've got your own path to follow

CHORUS

That woman continually out-does herself

When she emailed me earlier this week, I suspected she might give me her amp for my birthday.

I never, ever, anticipated THIS:

Thank you, Mom.