The bonus for the year finally came through on Friday–smaller than it has been in past years, smaller by about half, really, even compared to last year, which had been the smallest yet. But it’s a bonus none-the-less.
It’s been rare for me to use my bonus in the past for anything other than necessities: food, bills, things we really need…But this year, I earmarked a chunk of it for a couple of things that I really wanted.
The main item is an electronic musical keyboard. And for some of you, if I say the word Casio, you’ll think back to the keyboards of the ’80s (and I had one of those, too), which is fair because those things, while being technologically advanced, were crap. This one is, indeed, a Casio, but it’s come up in the world: 76 full-sized keys, stereo sound, some truly excellent voices (some that are not very good), and velocity action, which means that the harder I hit the key, the louder the sound will be.
I set it up and played with it for a good couple of hours last night after getting home, and I just have to say that I missed playing piano more than I thought. It’s been about 22 years since I gave it up, declaring I’d gone as far as I could and just didn’t have the time for it anymore. But my mother was right (as usual), and it is relaxation. Even if I’m just playing around, playing some chords and not actually playing a song, it’s still cathartic to produce harmonious sounds: letting a sound from inside your head come out through your fingers is an amazing thing. And yes, I missed it.
The kids have tried to stake some claim to it, but I’ve had to pull the card that says that it’s mine and I don’t often buy things that are just for me. But I did promise Hannah and Patrick that they could learn to play piano on it, if they so wished. I’ll start with Hannah this next week and see how it goes.
So maybe down the road, I’ll post some music that I’ve made here…We’ll see what happens. For now, I just need to get back into the rhythm of playing the piano again. I’m looking forward to it.
See you tomorrow.