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Monday, August 18, 2014

A Fiddle Named Half-Pint

illustration by Garth Williams,
LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved the Little House books.

She also loved the TV show, in which Laura gained the nickname "Half-Pint."

Which might explain why, when, many years later, her fiddle teacher said, "You need to name your fiddle," that the name she selected was Half-Pint.
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I am brand-new to the fiddle... my husband says it's my mid-life crisis. :) I have long loved music and took piano lessons until I was a senior in high school. (I remember once my grandmother saying of me, "she just can't walk past that piano without playing it." I wish she was here to see that it's true of the fiddle as well!

So. Why the fiddle? Maybe because of Pa in the Little House books. Maybe because of THE FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, a show I adored as a teen. Maybe because I love the cello, but it's SO BIG, and I travel a lot and need something portable. Maybe because I love bluegrass music and all those old folk tunes. I guess there are a lot of reasons! And I am loving it!

Here we are, me and my new companion, taking a writing break:


Here's a picture of Half-Pint waiting patiently for my attention. (So lovely of Maggie to keep her company amid other treasures!)


Any other fiddler-writers out there?

5 comments:

  1. How wonderful! That is the best kind of midlife crisis to have :-)!

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  2. I love imagining you fiddling around on your fiddle in between fiddling around with your writing!

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  3. I too love the fiddle. My great granpa played the fiddle and I always wanted to learn. (I love blue grass music too)
    My sister has taken up the fiddle. I just don't know if I could it though.
    Can't wait t hear you play Half pint. I loved Little Hose on the Prairie too!

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  4. Irene -- I'm so excited for you! Learning something new is a great idea. I loved reading the Little House books growing up and again to my children and Pa is such a lovable character. Of course you'd want to play the fiddle!

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  5. I bought a violin/fiddle a few years ago and began to learn how to play. I still have it, but haven't touched it for a good long time. My husband says to start real lessons, because I've begun to yearn to learn again. I've always loved the sound. Loved when Pa on LH would play. Maybe if I named it, it would help my learning...never thought of that.

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Your thoughts?