Move / Movie

I was first going to write about that I enjoy moving back and forth between the mountain and hammered dulcimer.  Each dulcimer has their own playing style.  Some songs I like better on one instrument than the other.  On the mountain dulcimer I especially like to play Black Mountain Rag, Swing and Turn Jubilee, and Sandy River Belle.  Meanwhile, on the hammered dulcimer I like to play Liberty, Country Waltz, and Red Haired Boy.  Really all these tunes sound nice on both dulcimers.  I find learning a tune on one of the dulcimers helps me to play it on the other. 

Now for the movie part - I came across a notice of a documentary on dulcimers.  The trailer for the movie is at  http://vimeo.com/57913342.  It's out at film festivals and has chats with dulcimer builders and players of the 1970s and information on the resurgence of dulcimers.  

Today I finally got back into carving.  I guess I like wood.  I love wooden instruments, making shapes out of wood, and the smell and look of wood.  My husband and I love to go for walks in the woods, too and like Northern Minnesota's wooded  areas.   The biology teacher in me always marvels at the processes of life.  When I play a dulcimer I'm certainly not thinking about photosynthesis but I could point out that all the wooden instruments would not be here if it wasn't for chloroplasts in plants cells and the sun.   Since the sun wasn't out much on this rainy day today it will pop out this week and not only help my garden grow but also may be growing dulcimers for the future.