THE RAIN PIANO

We had a good long rain last night and that's how I discovered that Butch and David had created a rain piano. It was an incredible performance. The keyboard is the new flashing over the window and the rain provides the fingers. It has fantastic range and the rythmn is incredible. What a wonderful gift these two friends have presented. But they might also take it away when they put up a rain gutter. I remembered how Brandon and I created rain drums beneath the drip line of the old house on Oak Point Rd. We would hurry out into the storm to tune them. How carefully he arranged the old pans and buckets to catch the drops. Sometimes we would put sticks under them to change the tone. Or place a stone on the edge of a pot to give it a different ring. I can see his face glowing with joy and excitement as he scurried about refining our drums. Someone has written that "the dead rise up to walk the timeless fields of memory". I think we can all relate to that. Memories are the priceless gifts our dear ones leave with us. After a couple of days canning high bush cranberries I can see the end. The jars are filled and ready for friends and family.