[Harp-L] The Long Road

["Dr. Albert Lee Reinsch" <dralbertlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I want to thank the poster who provided in Volume 14, Issue 44, of the 
Harp-I Digest the wonderfully inspiring and wise poem, "The Long Road."

Since this is my first post, allow me to briefly introduce myself. I am 
a real newbie on the harmonica. I am 72 years young and began trying to 
teach myself to play the harmonica (both diatonic and chromatic) just 3 
short months ago. I have joined my local Gateway Harmonica Club and was 
privileged to attend the 2004 SPAH Convention. I read both Harp-I and 
SlideMeister posts daily. I also practice daily. My interests in the 
harmonica are quite diverse. I enjoy ALL types of music and all styles 
of playing. I am focusing now on dependably hitting single notes, 
memorizing a small repertoire of folk tunes, and learning to read music 
well. I am also learning to "bend" and "overblow" so I can experiment 
with playing the simpler "blues riffs." I am fast becoming aware that 
it will indeed require "five years (or more) to master" this unique 
instrument, but I am enjoying every step of the journey. The harmonica 
is not my whole life. I also bike, camp, and kayak -- and I enjoy the 
companionship of my wonderful wife and several grandchildren. (YES! 
They will all be getting harmonicas from me for Christmas.) For years I 
have been signing my posts in folbot.com (a kayaker's forum) with the 
words, "Life's Joy is in the Journey, not the Destination." Perhaps 
this is why the underlying message in "The Long Road" post was so 
meaningful to me. I shall most probably not travel as far nor as fast 
as others who post here -- but I will enjoy it just as much. If there 
are other newbies reading this, who may have missed the October 23 
post, I am reproducing it below. It contains true wisdom.

Doctor Al

THE LONG ROAD

I am walking down a road. In the beginning, there is heavy fog, and I 
can
only see a tiny stretch of the road in front of me. I stumble on a few 
rocks
at first but I quickly get back on my feet and soon enough I'm walking 
at a
steady pace.

As I move forward, the fog lifts, or maybe my sight sharpens, I don't 
quite
know. As a consequence, I begin to see a lot further ahead of me. I can 
see
that the road goes on for much longer than I originally expected. At 
times,
I stop walking and look back. I can still see the beginning of the road.
I've made progress and that pleases me. But then I look forward again 
and I
see that the road goes on for so long... I find that a little 
depressing at
times...

I do not travel this road alone. Often I spot other travelers heading 
in the
same direction. Sometimes, on sinuous parts of the road I manage to 
speak
with those who are ahead of me. They tell me about the sights I have 
yet to
see, and sometimes I wish I could just skip these parts of the road and 
hop
along with them. But deep down I know that it's not worth cheating 
over. I
will always know that I haven't traveled the road all the way if I start
taking shortcuts.

There are travelers behind me also. Sometimes I'll let one or two catch 
up
with me and we travel together for a while. Sometimes, in the sinuous 
parts,
I cross people who are way behind and I try and encourage them with a 
few
words of wisdom learnt along the way.

I reflect that some travelers move faster than others. They seem more
dedicated, or perhaps they simply have more talent for walking. Once in 
a
while, I meet up with a traveler who has stopped and settled down. I 
often
think that they will be depressed or bitter about not having been able 
to
travel further, but really most of them are happy. They stopped because 
they
felt they had traveled enough for their own satisfaction, and simply 
don't
wish to go further.

At first, the road was pretty straight, there was only one route so to
speak. But as I move along, I realise that there are more and more 
alternate
paths, and it's sometimes hard to choose which one to travel on. It's 
hit
and miss mostly. Sometimes I choose a long route only to realise that it
didn't get me much further down the road, sometimes I put a lot of 
effort on
what looks like a hard path, and it really pays. But after a long 
while, I
start to realise that the further I go, the steeper the road as a whole
becomes, no matter which paths I choose. It takes me a lot more effort 
to
cover the same distance than it used to.

There are distractions along the way. Some of the alternate routes end 
up
being dead ends or winding paths that lead back to where I started. 
There
are also many inns by the side of the road filled with laughter, 
seductive
wenches, happy toddlers to entertain. So sometimes, I myself stop along 
the
way. At first that made me feel guilty, but after a while I realise 
that I
need those periods of rest to find confidence for the rest of the 
journey.

I can see the road all the way to the horizon now. I think I've finally
figured out that there is no end to the road. No matter how much I walk 
down
the long road, there will always be a longer stretch ahead of me. I have
also realised that I will stop one day. There are those dedicated 
travelers
who I believe will always keep walking until the day they die, and I 
truly
admire that dedication. I think I don't have the willpower to do that
myself. For now, I'm happy to continue to walk, but I know for a fact 
that I
will settle down one day, and I'll still be happy with the journey I've
made...