Play It Again, Sam

Picture found here.
Terese is baby-sitting a baby grand piano, lucky thing. It's a magnificent piece of furniture but even better, it's a wonderful musical instrument. It survived being tipped on it's side, it's legs removed, and a lengthy trip in a truck without a scratch and remained relatively in tune.

She hosted a party a few days ago. All of us gathered around the piano as it seemed to draw us close and elicit some kind of reaction from each of us. Magic fingers Terese effortlessly ripped out several beautiful pieces which showcased the piano's classic grand piano sound quality.

Rick, usually so dignified, morphed into a smarmy lounge lizard character as he leaned into the curved side of the piano, Bill Murray-esque oily smile plastered on his face.

Cheryl was transported back to her childhood piano recitals, in which she refused to play. She beamed and posed for pictures at the keyboard but her fingers never actually touched the keys.

The girls, meaning all of our daughters, took turns actually playing the piano. They approached the piano almost reverently and carefully made some of the most beautiful music heard that night. The piano seemed to inspire them to revisit their old lesson books. Ah, to be young and gifted....

Greg and John would not get within ten feet of the piano, even when Terese enticingly began several of their favorite country-western tunes. Their excuses for not singing along included a lack of adult beverages and some skepticism of their wives intentions, having been recorded previously without their consent.

Terese and I were shocked, yes, shocked at their suspicions.

As for me, the piano seemed to bring out my hammier side. I paged through a book of corny love songs and plunked out one of the corniest, ending with a contrived flourish. As everyone rolled their eyes, I took several bows.

"They laughed, they cried..." began Terese,

"they barfed..." I finished.

I'm not so sure that this round of shenanigans qualified as music therapy - an alternative medicine modality that some practitioners claim helps reduce symptoms of autoimmune disease. You can read more about music therapy and autoimmune disease here.

Personally, this approach is a little woo-woo for my taste. However, if some find benefit in this therapy, I'd say go for it.