Yesterday, while having our second cup of coffee, I asked Don if he really wanted an item he had mentioned to me – Don sometimes has impulse ideas for a gift that he ends up regretting. Sure enough, he was wavering. Then, as a muttered aside, he said that what he really wanted was a resonator guitar. What do I know about resonator guitars? Nothing. But I do now. They have built in cones that make the sound bigger and they can be played with a slide, which is great for arthritic fingers and hands. Don has had a hard time playing for any length of time nowadays because of arthritis. This kind of guitar would be a perfect solution. (It’s often used by blues musicians, by the way, and was invented in the 20s before there was electronic amplification of guitars – the cones were needed to compete with the rest of the instruments in a band.)
Anyway. We talked about it and suddenly I thought, “I can buy this for him with some of my pay from the movie! I have the money.” So, I told him I would buy it for him and we started to research and listen to videos, etc. Don’s local music store didn’t have any in stock. But we found one south of us that did. So we got in the car, retrieved the extra bin of ornaments, got on the thruway and drove south (not very far.) We had an appointment to look at the guitar at 12:30. Long story short, we learned a lot more and it’s fabulous and I bought it for my husband for Christmas. Yay!
He is so happy. Playing the guitar has been a constant for Don since he was 10 years old and his Samoan godfather taught him to play a pedal steel guitar. He needs to play. And he’s been taking an online course from a blues guitarist from Detroit (who is also a minister!)
He has spoiled me many times (see dollhouses as Christmas gifts.) This Christmas I’m spoiling him. I told him I don’t need much for Christmas, maybe an inexpensive watch. I’ve been spoiling myself buying dolls and clothes, so I don’t need any big gifts. Just being here in our lovely little cottage with the tree and rest and peace is all I need.
I’ll take a picture of him playing the guitar later today, so you can see what it looks like.
And then we stopped and had fries from Five Guys – something we haven’t done in years. Oh my heavens, they were good.
Then I discovered Don had bought the wrong lights for the tree – he bought the kind that are netted and go over bushes – so I sent him back to the store. After he came home with the right lights, we put them on the tree and stopped for the day. We’ll put the ornaments on this morning.
For someone who just wants to rest, my days have been very busy since I got home.
Actually, I really like just having the lights for a day or two. That’s a piece of vintage fabric at the base of the tree.
Monty is already adorned for the holidays.
I’m keeping it simple this year. I have no idea where the putz houses are and I’m not looking for them. They’re not lost, I’m just not sure where I put them. Unless I have a burst of energy, I’m not decorating the dollhouses. Just the tree and few little things here and there.
I’m tired and my body is trying to recover from the insane schedule I was on for six weeks. I keep nodding off in the late afternoon and evening. The less holiday decorating I have to do, the better.
We’re watching Get Back, the Beatles documentary. Don has already watched it once and now we’re watching it together. It’s fascinating.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
