Ding Dong...

Well, its has been quite an interesting few days of trying new things. I attended an amazing concert of the Holy Trinity church bells on Seafest Saturday, and was impressed by how many different tunes you can play on the bells. There were four different musicians and the songs lasted over 2 hours, everything from Sailor songs to children's songs to church music to the Beatles and other oldies. As a result of the concert, I became very curious as to how the bells worked and asked Lori Colbeck- who I knew played the bells from time to time as well. She said she could teach me how they worked, and thats what we did on Saturday morning. (My apologies to anyone reading this that might live in the neighbourhood, since your attempt to sleep in was probably thwarted!) I have always been involved in musical pursuits- every once in a while still play my trombone from high school days, the guitar, drums, and fiddle a little with the piano- so this seemed like a somewhat mysterious and challenging thing to try. I was a bit shy at first but it is SOOOO fascinating!! I have now decided that I would really like to practice more and play occasionally when there is noone available some Sunday. The neatest part of the instrument is that there are only 11 notes- D, E and B flat, but no sharps and no B natural, so your range of music is rather limited! I photocopied a few pieces from Lori's binder and plan on practicing a bit around lunch for a few days... This morning at 10:15, I went up in the tower to watch Pat Nickerson play. She has been playing the bells for around 25 years now and is absolutely phenomenal. Her hands were a bit shaky at times and pressing the levers take a lot of strength and energy, but you would never know she has those difficulties if you hear the complexity and speed of the songs she plays... At the end of the 40 minute concert, she began a number of ecstatic peeling runs of notes and she was moving so quickly that I actually had to step back in awe! The funniest part was watching people walk by the church and bell tower as if there was nothing happening. I guess we are sometimes so used to things or maybe we assume they are automatic, that we take them for granted... We might not have an understanding of the preparation, effort and energy that goes into the creation of those beautiful sounds, sights and smells around us! Next time you hear church bells, think about all of the people around you in your life that work to make the world and more pleasant, kind and lovely place to be.