Little Hobby

I have a little hobby, a little game I play in my head... which surely my musician friends will understand.  Heck, they might even try it, too.

It's called: "What Chord, O Conductor?"

It is best played in a generally quiet, rural area, either early in the morning or late at night.  The Conductor mentioned isn't that of an orchestra, but that of a locomotive.  Yes, the game is thus:

Can I identify the exact chord played by a train whistle? (Extra credit is earned if no piano or other point of reference is used :-)

This morning, I heard the lonely wail of an A-minor-seventh (Am7) chord, in second inversion (E-G-A-C)*.  Each train's whistle evokes a different mood -- sometimes whimsical, sometimes weird.  But usually, they consist of 3 or 4 tones in a tight cluster.  I often wonder whose job it is to tune those whistles to play those chords, and does each "train-whistle-tuner-person" have their own personal favorite tone grouping?

If you know anything about that the train-whistle-tuning process, please post a comment.  In the meantime, there's music all around us... Happy listening!

* (Yes, I suppose this could be a C6 chord in first inversion, but I digress.)

Wordpress

 
Today, "A Different Legacy" is making its debut on Wordpress...

Our new (additional) URL is http://ADifferent:Legacy.wordpress.com/

Of course, we'll still be found at www.ADifferentLegacy.com, which will show identical content on Blogger, but with a slightly different layout.

Let me know your thoughts... which do you prefer?

Thanks for reading.

Monday Musings

You know, you just don't know how much you can do with less, until you have to... A blessing in disguise, eh?

In order to Cut Commuting Costs*, I've been taking public transportation to and from work, most days. 

The up-sides?
1)  I save about $8 a day (even more when I buy a monthly pass).
2)  My family can have the option of using our only vehicle during the day, instead of being necessarily house-bound.
3)  I don't have to worry about hitting a deer.  (I've done that at least once since moving to Montana.)
4)  I can take a nap (depending on #2, below, of course).
5)  I get to meet local folks that I otherwise wouldn't.
6).  I can thumb-type blog posts from my phone.
7)  I can read.

The down-sides?
1)  It turns my 1-hour commute into a 2-hour commute, so I don't get home til 6pm.
2)  I'm at the mercy of Ernie-the-Shuttle-Driver's musical tastes, which usually center around crude 80's/90's hard rock.
3).  There's just no comfortable way to nap on that shuttle.
4).  It's too noisy to be able to call old friends on the phone.

* (My 11-year-old daughter (the "Munchkin") and I have been having fun with alliteration lately.)

• • • • • • • •

Tonight, I hope to accomplish 2 things in my quest for greater preparedness against the unforeseen.  First, I'll begin designing and building shelves between the studs of our crawlspace, where the temperature, year-round, hovers right around 52°F -- perfect for long-term storage!  It'll be our ad hoc root cellar.  Second, I'll be marinating some of that venison I told you about, in order to make deer jerky.  If it turns out well, I'll probably process most of it that way... except the "backstraps", which, I'm told, are the choicest cuts.

Now, we currently live in a duplex at the east edge of town, about 1/2 mile from the majestic Flathead River, but our dwelling is a far cry from the "off-grid" house-in-the-woods we dream of constructing in the near future.  Still, we are not letting that stop us from being as prep-minded as possible... and it shouldn't stop you, either, no matter what kind of place you call home.  Do something this week to work toward preparing for the unforeseen.  Go fishing, and smoke what you catch (providing it is edible, of course).  Learn how to "can" some applesauce, or whatever.  Try your hand at processing small game meat (rabbit, grouse, etc).  Practice tying knots you learned from the internet.

What will you do to prepare, this week?  Post a comment below, and let all the A.D.L. readers know how your efforts turned out... And remember:  Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly (at first)!  In other words...

Don't be afraid to fail.