Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

My mom, among many other fabulous things, is a phenomenal pianist.

She's the kind of person who can sit down at the piano and sight read even the most complicated music. She also has perfect pitch and a lovely singing voice.
When I was 3, she began her Master's program at UNC in Greeley, while also raising her children, studying, practicing, and working.

After we moved to Casper and she had finished her graduate work, she spent an extraordinary amount of time playing for the symphony, chamber music concerts, and volunteering her time for various music organizations. Her friends were hippy musicians...I suspect they smoked pot.

She won the Governor's Art Award, the year she played a Gershwin concerto with the symphony, for her contribution to the arts in Wyoming. I still have the poster announcing the festivities surrounding the awards hanging in my foyer.

As far back as I can remember then, music, especially classical music, has always been a part of my life.I began playing piano at the age of 4. I picked up the violin at 10 and the viola at 12. I sang in choirs - both in school, in church, and in a children's chorus.

The rest of my family too has always been musical. Frank plays the guitar beautifully, writes his own music, produces other people's music, sings, teaches. Rache plays the piano. Jenni sings and dances professionally. Even my dad participated by singing in a chorale once.

So you can imagine that around the holidays, there was a lot of music and singing...and playing games in our house. Because we also love love love the games.

We had a game...I don't remember the name of it now...but it was a game in which you were given a word of some sort and you had to sing lyrics from a song that included the word or, in some cases, a word that was associated¹.

It was my mom's turn to sing. I don't even remember what the word was now. But she broke out with the lyrics to Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. You know...

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad...

Except instead of dog bites? Mom sang "When the shark bites". We all stopped for a second. It sounded kinda right but also really sorta wrong. And then we all fell over laughing because really! I don't think whiskery kittens and raindrops on roses are going to make anyone feel better after a shark attack.

Now I can't think of that song without thinking of a shark attack. It makes me laugh. It makes me consciously remember how fantabulous my mom is.

And yesterday, when some friends were trying to come up with a suggestion for a ringtone for me and that song ran through my head as a good possibility, I had to laugh to myself. Because even I don't think I could make a shark bite feel much better.

I'd give it the old college try though. Always.


1: For example, the word might be "shape" and you would have to sing a lyric that would include some kind of shape - like circle, square, octagon.