Hearts & Dulcimers

I hope you've had a nice Valentine's Day. I think we can love people, pets, etc. but also love doing things. On my refrigerator I have a cutout from a cereal box saying "Do What You Love." It's important to make time to do what you love. Not everyone has time to go on a week long retreat but perhaps fitting in some time for a call to a friend, going for a walk or yes - playing some music can be special.

We had fluffy snowflakes falling yesterday but not much accumulation. Our total snow fall this season has been well below average. Does that mean storms will come over the next month with many inches of snow? We don't want the fire season to be extra scary this year because of less moisture in the soil. Plants will also need moisture to grow. I bought mixed nuts with shells this winter (partly to slow down eating nuts - I love nuts). The nuts are beautiful. I like to imagine a walnut being planted as I play one of my dulcimers made with wood from a walnut tree. I wonder if almond tree wood is every used. A tip for shining up your dulcimer fretboard that might have a scratch or two is to rub a nut on it.
I have several new McSpadden dulcimers in stock. Two have the Ebony fretboards. I was in Africa about ten years ago and was able to go to the trees where ebony comes from. The variety of woods is pretty incredible and for some of the woods that 'grow up to be" a dulcimer have the bonus of beauty and sound. I also like the aspect of the life of the tree bringing spirit and joy to a room - or even healing - to a room and the people in it.