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- Subject: Reprint: Christmas satire - the Lost Harp
- From: "JACK ELY"@mrgate.mec.ohio.gov
- Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1991 14:29:00 EST
- A1-type: DOCUMENT
- Posting-date: Thu, 23 Dec 1993 00:00:00 EST
Reprinted (by no demand at all) from December 1992 Harmonica Dispatch. Hope some new readers enjoy this. 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! 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! Jack Ely ely.j@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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