A friend of mine rented a piano for his wife. After a few weeks I asked him how it was going. He said he talked her into playing the clarinet instead. I asked him why. “Simple”, he said. “With a wind instrument she can’t sing.”

Some people can sing and some can’t. I don’t know why. It’s just the way it is. The worst is when someone thinks they sing well but is really quite horrible at it. It should be a capital offense because they butchered the song so badly.

As they belt out song after dreadful song, you either eventually have no choice but to either confront the person or end them. The noise must stop. One time someone called the cops on one of our neighbors because he said he could hear them killing a cat.

Then there are people who have good skills but lack the confidence to really let go. Heather is that way. Great voice but always turns out into something that sounds hilarious. I try my best to encourage her, to no avail. I’ll keep trying. In the meantime, I keep belting out my favorite songs. Good thing everyone knows we don’t have a cat.


Daughter Chris played in the marching band when she was in high school (30+ years ago!), and she started playing the trumpet. Luckily, we lived atop a mountain in Southern Virginia at the time, and we would make her go halfway down the side of the mountain to practice. Sure there were snakes, but her playing kept them at bay! Today, she is a drummer … much more peaceful … I only make her go to the park behind our house to practice now!
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It’s always a tough decision. We want to encourage them in the arts, but…
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Yes, but … we also want to protect our sanity, not to mention our eardrums!
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