Those who read my last blog post about Business/Busy-ness will know that I took a 7-day vacation to Arizona last week. To be able to commune with nature, hike, see new sights, visit the Musical Instrument Museum and become inspired by all of it has been restorative and healing in many ways.
The season we are already moving into can be stressful to
those who face travel to visit family, overbooked social commitments, and lots
of gigs to try to stay healthy for, so my wish for each of you is to take time
for yourself – feed your soul, get some sleep, rest up!!! I’d love to share some highlights from my
trip, so here we go!
Our first two nights were spent in Prescott, Arizona – a lovely little town that we may try to return to again since our first full day was pretty much rained out. Once the rain stopped, the wind continued to whip around with very low temperatures we were not acclimated to, being from sunny California… But on our second day, on our way to Sedona, we made a stop at one of the many little lakes in the area, Lynx Lake, and did a 3.5 mile walk completely around the lake.
Oh, okay, it would have been helpful to see that before we set out in the direction we went! But, there were other hikers and dog walkers on the other side of the lake, so we weren’t completely alone or in danger (much).
Our next 2 nights were in Sedona, and having
arrived in the late afternoon, we rested up for a longish hike the next day to
Soldiers Pass. This was a 4.7 mile loop, and was fairly strenuous with lots of
rock scrambling, and amazing vistas. A few highlights were a natural sinkhole called
Devil’s Kitchen, the Seven Sacred Pools, and the Soldiers Cave.
Soldiers Pass
Devil’s Kitchen Sinkhole
Seven Sacred Pools
Soldiers Pass Cave
While on the hike, we stood around with a group of hikers
watching a helicopter rescue, which reminded us all to be very careful. These
rocks are known to be vortexes and magical in some way, but it doesn’t mean you
can’t fall 40 feet and be skewered by a tree limb…
The day we left Sedona, we decided to do one more hike: the short 1.5 mile loop around Bell Rock – it’s fairly flat, so we added a lot of steps (according to my Fitbit) with just a little effort. There are also several trails up to the top, but we were done climbing...
Finally, we spent the last two nights in Scottsdale (a
suburb of Phoenix), and our big outing was visiting the Musical Instrument
Museum. I took hmm... probably a hundred photos mostly of stringed instruments
from all around the world, and my biggest disappointment was not being able to
reach out and try playing a tune on each and every one! I’d never seen a Peruvian
harp up close, or a number of unusual bowed and plucked string instruments from around the world! But I also found many that I have in my small collection, and am actively playing. Here are
some of the interesting harps:
Pervian harp
Frame harp from Tunguragau
Irish harp with 7 levers on the pillar
Here are some of the stringed instruments I play
or have played. The Swedish lute with bass strings was the predecessor of the
harp guitar:
Nyckelharpa and lute with bass strings
Harp guitar
Chapman stick
Each Chapman stick was numbered, and although you can’t see
the numbers in the photo, when I was in Stickband decades ago, I played a
borrowed stick numbered 284. I also sang some of my original songs, played my
electric violin, Yamaha Electric Grand piano, and Moog Liberation synthesizer
(that’s what I’m playing in this photo). I still have the violin, the tee shirt,
and the hat!
Jim Bruno & me at a Stickband concert in 1978 or 9
We also did the guided tour of the special exhibit, and I was
delighted when the docent explained that the Turkish Oud was originally
developed by Armenian luthiers, but eventually became known as Turkish. As an
Armenian, I was grateful that he gave credit where credit was due. I think this
is a little-known fact… This photo shows the Armenia exhibit. Each country had
a map, a video screen you could hear music through their provided headphones and
receiver as you approached the exhibit. I felt I could have spent far more time
here and highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in Phoenix!
There were two concerts at the museum that we were able to attend – a wonderful classical guitarist, and an oud player who played accompanied by a keyboardist with a drum machine. So inspiring! Those who have taken my Middle Eastern workshop might enjoy watching this short video. By the way, the rhythm is the Maqsum rhythm:
Maqsum 1 & (2) & 3 4
Doum tek tek doum tek
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c209uVn7d8BBXkURk3H64M5nY5J-KCxa/view?usp=share_link
So, now, back to teaching private students, a workshop
tomorrow, several performances in Assisted Living facilities, concerts with
Gaelic Muses, concerts with Harpers Hall, Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings
with family and friends, and yes, thanks to a lovely vacation, I think I’ll get
through it all with a smile!
Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!
Thank you for sharing Verlene!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great trip. I will try yo go to the Musical Instruments Museum some day.
Diane Renee Macdonell
Yes, Diane, it was a wonderful experience! Definitely try to get to the museum some day!
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