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A Peek Inside My Notebook

3/9/2015

9 Comments

 
Picture
I’ve had a picture book idea floating around in my head for at least fifteen years. It’s built around some childhood memories involving my parents, but it is most definitely fiction. I’ve never written the whole thing, just various scenes that occasionally find their way into my notebook. Every once in a while something will remind me of this story and I revisit it…again. Last night it was a piece I saw on “60 Minutes” about conductor and pianist James Levine (who sometimes sings while he conducts) that got me thinking about “Martha’s Music” again. So I decided to share a scene with you today as my SOL.


“Did you practice yet today?” Martha’s mother inquired. “Remember, you need to practice every day so that you become the best violinist you can be. Then one day you can join Daddy and me on stage in the orchestra. Wouldn’t that be grand?” she said. It wasn’t that Martha hated to practice. It was just that the scales and etudes, even the concertos she was assigned to learn were boring. While the sounds moved up and down in a rhythmic dance, there was a limit to what the violin could produce. Martha longed to hear the bass notes of the cello and the high-pitched bird songs of the flute complement the music she could make. Sometimes she would sing those parts in her head.


I don’t know if I will ever complete the whole thing, but it’s fun to revisit every now and then. For those of you who might be wondering, Martha does eventually join her parents on the stage in the concert hall...but not as a violinist.


9 Comments
Ona link
3/9/2015 02:26:11 am

This is a great scene! I'd read that picture book. :-)

Reply
Vanessa Vaile link
3/9/2015 02:53:31 am

I seem to be doing something similar -- without the pictures. I'll mention something to my friend Ana about my childhood or living overseas and "but that's another story." She keeps telling to write them down and that my daughter and grandchildren will want to have them too, so I am doing some of that this week.

Some days those show up for slicing and other days I process what's been happening in the hear and now. I never know which it will be until one or the other shows -- better than none showing up! That happens too.

Reply
elsie
3/9/2015 04:01:45 am

Makes me wonder if it's her voice that brings her to the same stage as mom and dad. How fun to be able to revisit a notebook and find snippets to be developed or maybe not.

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Dana Murphy link
3/9/2015 04:10:59 am

Great scene! Makes me very curious to read the rest. Love the language - it's beautiful.

Reply
Adrienne link
3/9/2015 04:57:25 am

Oh, goodness! This is perfectly named - I can almost see the art. I hope you go for it one day!

Reply
Jackie
3/9/2015 05:43:20 am

Now you have to finish this picture book for all of us who read your post today! What an intriguing story...and I can picture what beautiful illustrations would accompany your words. You have all of us curious! :-)

Reply
Aileen Hower link
3/9/2015 09:29:32 am

I love this. I can hear my son's voice in Martha's thoughts. How wonderful of you to share this here, regardless of the status of the book. It's alive and well in our memories now, too!

Reply
Shelly Surridge
3/9/2015 12:36:55 pm

This has all the makings of that picture book you want to read to EVERY class for thirty years. What you have so far would be a great lesson for prediction. It would be fun to see what the students came up with for an ending.

Reply
MaryHelen link
3/10/2015 01:08:03 am

Thanks for sharing your snippet. I love how she honors the practicing but you share her inner longing.

Reply



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