After talking about it for over two years I have finally done it! I bought myself a piano last Friday night!
I’ve been playing the piano since I was 5, but most likely not in front of or for you if I could help it. Not to be rude, but I tend to be on the shy side sharing this talent. I’m getting better at that. Anyway, in 1992 when my parents were getting ready to sell the house I grew up in on Finn Hill, I surprised them with a visit during my birthday and told them not to sell my piano. They said they wouldn’t but at their garage sale a few months later when some random passer-by asked if they had a piano my dad said sure and sold it. NOT COOL. They did buy me a piano 5 years ago however with two moves and not feeling settled in one spot, I ended up selling it.
Once I bought the condo I didn’t figure I should get one with such close proximity to neighbors. I considered getting a keyboard instead. These days some sound and feel a lot like a real piano, however for me a lot of it is the actual piano – the wood, the keys, there is something about it that I am drawn to. I never ended up making a decision and time passed. I started thinking differently about it the last two years as my upstairs neighbor changed. The new guy travels 95% of the time. I figured with a piano being on the outside wall the next door neighbors wouldn’t be bothered too much either.
My looking was unfocused and sporadic until last week. I don’t even know what made me look again. Oh yeah, I was talking to Super Jailbird Steve and he mentioned all the stuff he was buying and selling on Craigslist and that reminded me. I found two near Tacoma and was going to check them out last weekend except the snow put an end to that plan! I kept checking the ads and the next day there was an ad for a piano in Kirkland for $425 – a steal! I talked to the lady and she was willing to hold off on showing it to any other potential buyers until I had seen it. That is unheard of! I went to see it the next day and you wouldn’t believe it — she lived in my old neighborhood on Finn Hill! She lived in the house next door to where my best friend, Kari, grew up (and where her brother now lives with his family)! What are the odds of that? Have I come full circle in some regard? I brought my old piano book so I could try it out. The cover now has no binding. I felt a little self-conscious beginning to play with the owner and her mother there with me but I just plowed through and decided an audience didn’t matter. I think it helped that they said they didn’t play so anything would sound better than them! Pretty soon they were telling me it felt like Nordstroms in there and where was my tip jar! (ha ha) We got to talking about the old neighborhood and the area and turns out the owner’s mom knew my mom from the Bank where my mom worked – or at least remembered her! To me, it seemed clear that there was a strong connection here, real or implied and that besides being a good deal on price, and sounding good, this was the piano for me!
My other piano was black – it never resonated with me – this one is brown, maple we think. It fits very nicely in my Dining Room, on an outside wall, right by the window. I was overjoyed to see it brought in and minus a little scuffing on the kitchen floor it made it in safely! How exciting!
I enjoyed playing it for the first time last night. I played Fur Elise (Beethoven) and some other Classical tunes. It definitely needs to be tuned but overall I am very thrilled. Just walking by and seeing it in the room makes my heart all warm.
1960’s Winter Spinet
