Carpe Pianem

The piano arrived yesterday. On R's eleventh birthday, coincidentally. This is the $100 piano that I found for sale from a coworker. It had been a student piano for her children and they were upgrading. I jumped at the opportunity. It's an upright, about 80 years old or so, with a black-ish finish and simple, clean craftsman-style details. In other words, a perfect period match for our Cottage. Especially when you factor in C's favorite black cathedral-backed chairs that coordinate the cottage with the craftsman with the piano.

It slid right into place in the living room, directly opposite the front door, like it had always been there. In talking to the piano movers, there may have been a reason for that.

The senior guy on the movers team said to me as they were setting up the ramps to get up the front stairs, “Hey, didn’t we move a piano out of your house about two years ago?”

“Possibly." I replied, "That would have been about the time the previous owner moved out. I don’t know if she had a piano, but she might have.”

“Oh, I was definitely here. I remember the stairs. And the tree. I had to back the truck up into the tree then, too. Had to be this house.” he then pointed to a corner in the living room and said, “It sat right there.”

“Well, that’s where we’re putting THIS piano!” I offered back, "Must be where it belongs."

And belong there, it certainly does.

Immediately after the piano movers left, I headed out to meet the rest of the family for birthday dinner with Grandma Gin and Grandpa Jerry. We often celebrate Grandpa's Aug 25th birthday in conjunction with R's Aug 26th birthday. After a great dinner with everyone, R, M and I headed over to Wunderland at the Avalon Theater to play some video games. C stayed at the mall for a while to shop closeouts for good deals.

It wasn't until after 9pm that everyone reunited at home. And it was then that C, M and R alternately took time exploring the piano. With C's first piece - one that her fingers remembered from childhood lessons - it was obvious that the house had prior knowledge of a piano. You could just tell. Like it was pressed in to the paint. It sounded so right. You could almost feel the house dance. Like there were musical ghosts present, thankful for the return of a piano in the physical realm.

While C was playing, exploring the action of the keys, R came downstairs from his room, saying "Hey! The piano sounds really good from upstairs. It fills the house up with music!" Everyone was happy, smiling.

While M took her bath, R explored melodies for about 15 minutes, then faded off to bed (and a good late-night read). But M and C sat together at the keys, in their pajamas, for almost an hour.

"Teach me everything you know about playing the piano!" begged M.

"That won't take me too long," grinned C, "who then launched into a flourish and a full-blown two-handed arrangement."

Finally, when I shooed them off to bed at 11pm, M was reading simple music for "I'm A Little Teapot", playing the melody with one finger, and singing along with her own accompaniment.

When it came to the piano last night, who didn't seize the opportunity?