Dear Friends,
Ukuleles are on my mind. Clark loved the instrument. I’m drawing one for Meredith, and — even though they crowded our shelves and even though I heard plenty of Clark’s ukulele back in Tallahassee — I’d never looked closely at the instrument.
I love to draw things in front of me, so I tried to rent a ukulele to take home for a while… I went to three shops ... No luck. But Guitar City let me sit in this big room full of stringed instruments. I went to the ukulele corner, grabbed a stool, picked up a ukulele, and drew it. And then another… What a moody place! All around me young men were trying out guitars they might buy, playing snatches of song. Zing collapsed at my feet. (I think he might be a bit noise-sensitive.) I needed more, but we had to leave, and then I realized I could ask Keith to lend me a uke.
Yesterday we rendezvoused in the Safeway parking lot. I was putting groceries in Rosa. "Hey, Lady, want a ukulele?" Keith called, stopping behind my car in the F-150 he is testing. At first I didn't realize it was him, but Zing did. He loves Keith, and he loves F-150s. Keith handed over the instrument, and I took it home and have been sketching in free moments ever since, stroking the beautiful wood, crying a bit, and loving my ukulele memories. I'm studying the proportions, depth, and the way the strings are wound. All the while listening to ukulele on Pandora,
The ukulele is a simple instrument, yes. But not for me.
Love
k
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