Christmas satire - the Lost Harp

[Jack Ely 466-0458 <SYS_ELY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1991 14:29:00 EST
From: "JACK ELY"@mrgate.mec.ohio.gov
Subject: Christmas satire - the Lost Harp
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Posting-date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 00:00:00 EST
A1-type: DOCUMENT

  [Not much happening on the net so I thought
  I'd post this little story I wrote for our
  Harmonica Dispatch Christmas issue.  je]


                 THE LOST HARP

        Solution to a childhood mystery?

                (Hmmm..... maybe)

  DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST HARMONICA? Most
  of us admit to getting our first harmonica
  around the age of 6 or 7, maybe a little
  older. But think back; way back. Was there a
  harmonica in your life even at an earlier
  age? A friend and I were musing this
  possibility the other day and we think we
  figured out what really happened. How many
  of you, in your teen years say 15 - 18,
  found a harmonica in an old dresser drawer
  or some other obscure storage place like an
  attic chest or cupboard? You either didn't
  remember where it came from or maybe vaguely
  remember having one of these way back when
  you were just a toddler 3 or 4 years of age.
  You probably didn't think much of it and
  proceeded to actually learn to play the
  instrument, even adding more harmonicas to
  your collection - a habit that continues to
  this day for most of us. Well, we theorize
  that every child in the world received their
  first harmonica by the age of four, no
  later. And here is what REALLY happened. It
  didn't take us long to put the thing in our
  mouths (as we did everything we got our
  hands on then) and accidentally discover
  that it made noise (no - sounds, by gosh,
  it's music) when we breathed through it.
  More experimenting revealed the capability
  of producing sound when we breathed in or
  out through this fascinating new (excuse the
  term) toy; and that the volume increased in
  magnitude the more holes we got our mouth
  around. Now you remember don't you? - Blow,
  Draw, Blow, Draw, Blow, Draw, Blow - you
  never had to come up for air, this was
  wonderful! You couldn't do this with dad's
  fluegelhorn! Wow man - Draw, Blow, Draw,
  Blow, Draw - Honk, Squawk, Screech, Rack,
  Sploot, Rasp! - Music to my ears! Ecstasy!


           THE LOST HARP (continued)

  Music? Well, not to adult ears. No, nope,
  not! That first harmonica very soon
  mysteriously disappeared. The average life
  cycle being, I would guess, less than 24
  hours. Search as we might, we could not find
  that wonderful gift we had found in our
  Christmas stocking early that morning. "Mom,
  Dad, have you seen my harmonica?"  "Why no
  dear, we can't imagine what could have
  happened to it." - Years later, when long
  forgotten, the little instrument re-surfaced
  and the joy of the harmonica, which would
  last a lifetime, was discovered anew.

  ===========================================

         M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S

                      and

         H A P P Y   H A R M O N I C A

  ===========================================

  from:

         The Buckeye State Harmonica Club

                           Be of good cheer!

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