A "Strummy" Weekend

So far, this has been a "strummy" weekend, which is good, by the way! I played for hours yesterday and today while attending my Mom's yardsale and when we went to the park afterward, while my son was fishing. He did not catch any fish, but he did snag a fishing pole on the bottom of the lake and pulled it in.
Hubby and I sat on a park bench and I played while he worked on his laptop. Someone took video of me playing, so I guess that counts? He didn't say anything other than asking if it was ok. I hope he liked it.

Can't wait till Kentucky Music Weekend, July 24-25!

.....Adding Sunday: We were able to wrangle ourselves away from our AS son today, which does not happen as often as we would like. We took him a box of groceries and skedaddled away. I punctured a playing finger with a little screwdriver this afternoon, trying to tighten a tuning peg. Ouch! I cleaned and bandaged it. I was afraid it would be too painful to play, but I was able in spite of it. It is sore right now, but not terribly painful.
We spent the late afternoon, after the rains passed, at Cox's Park, on the Ohio River, strumming together this time. I guess I should say practicing. Larry relies heavily on his tab notebook, so we went through several songs slowly to help him learn them. I wish I had taken my camera because the river was just gorgeous this evening as the sun began to go down. The reflection of the sky on the water made it a deep, deep blue color that was so pretty.
...Cox's park is a nice place when it isn't too crowded. There were alot of boats coming and going at the ramp so it was noisier than it would be on a weekday. There is usually a punk car with speakers turned up and booming, as there was today, but we were far enough away from it to ignore it. It is kinda funny. I have noticed that when we play at the park, especially there, people begin to bring their chairs and sit close to us, not right up with us, but just close enough, I guess, to hear us. I sometimes wonder if they think that if they get too close they might owe us a tip or something. We don't sit there with an open case or a mason jar, so I would think it would be clear that it is not our purpose.
...I always love the reactions of children. One little guy walked up to me today who could not have been more than 3. He stood there and watched, all the time his mother was off in the distance yelling at him to come back to her, but he just kept watching. When we stopped and I was distracted talking to a lady who had approached us, he reached over and strummed the strings and then turned away and hid his face. He was so cute. Then he ran back to Mama and they moved on.
...The lady who approached us had a dulcimer history similar to others that we often hear when we are out and about. She has moved here from St. Louis and owns a dulcimer that she purchased there years ago but has not yet learned to play it. We told her about the Dulcimer Society and the upcoming Kentucky Music Weekend and she left with some information I had pulled from my case to get her started on her venture into "dulcimerhood". Is that a good name for it? Anyway, I hope she visits our group and finds a happy niche there.
...Almost every time we go out we meet people with similar stories and we always encourage them to take the dulcimer down off the wall or out of the closet and begin their adventure of learning to play. Experiences like today's are so important in my own life because when I am strumming on the river bank or even in the back yard, I enter a world without the hassles and worries of reality for a short time, enough to renew, and then go on with "real" life. Call it therapy, denial, escape, or whatever you like. All I know is that is has been very good for me. I suspect it is very good for others too.
Sure wish I had a picture of that beautiful water. I think you would fully understand what I am saying.