Allegro, accelerando, adagio

Life is a series of notes, dripping across pages, floating through the air, ripping out eardrums, soothing hearts, dredging up courage, pouring out misery, giving love substance.

Unending sound tracks to immerse myself in from the velvety warmth of lullabies, to the gritty notes of the blues.

I strain to hear each instrument, laughing saxes, wailing violins, plaintive oboes, booming tubas, sultry clarinets, jazzy trumpets, and of course the piano and guitar.

The piano that grew with me, carried me through my darkest hours, allowed me to be creative, to wile away years of loneliness and  joy, weariness and meditation and love. My first instrument and the one of my heart, nothing listens to me like a piano.

The country, western, and classical guitars that played my childhood slid seamlessly into the music of my children and I hear their hearts played on those simple strings stretched over a soundboard so versatile and creative.

Even the silence has a sound of its own that sings to me in mute wonder.