piano farewell

This really hit home – a CBC story about what to do with old pianos. Last year we gave away my late mum's prized possession. The instrument was one of few luxuries she allowed herself. She played, and my brother and I took lessons. My elderly parents left it behind when they downsized. We bought an electric and my mother’s sat unused. When it was time to move, taking it to our new house was out of the question, so we put it online for free. Even at zero dollars, it wasn’t an easy sell. After a lot of messages and phone calls a guy took it for his mother-in-law to play religious songs. As he left, he handed me some fundamentalist nonsense which I was happy to take because he took the piano. There's no lesson here really. There will still be a market for high end pianos in concert halls and such but, when it comes to people's living rooms, technology rules. By the way, I checked today. There are about two dozen free pianos listed on Facebook Marketplace in my hometown of Calgary.

moving violation

Moving sucks. That could be the entire blog entry. We sold one house and bought another. I understand that is a privilege few can afford but moving is still a horrible experience. My realtor says moving is the third most stressful event behind divorce and death of a loved one. I agree. For one thing, there was all the stuff to dispose of. We had way too much, including possessions of my long-departed parents and grandparents. As well as filling two industrial garbage bins, we had antiques– two 60s TV sets, a non-working hi-fi and a piano. Nobody wants pianos. There was also a 1940s era gas stove buried in the back of the basement. It now sits in the garage of my new house. I didn’t have the heart to trash it. This move is done. I’d do it again, or I could just stick sharp spikes in my eyes.