Stuff Happens- October 21, 2007
"That's life." " Stuff happens." Or, as my neighbor responded when I asked him if he knew why some laurel bushes might have died on the other side of my house, "Things die." Not the answer I was looking for, but still an answer. And a valid one.
Deb and I had just (luckily!!) sold our old home in Virginia this summer, invested loads of money into our new home and dock, when I woke up one morning with numbness in my left hand and pain in the left arm. The pain kept me from much sleep for many nights until a couple weeks of chiropractic adjustments ended it. It seems four years of football in high school wherein I used my neck, head and helmet as a battering ram, plus plain old spinal deterioration over the years caused a nerve or two that run down my left arm from my neck (spine) to be crushed/ pinched by the vertebra. I continued with the three times a week visits for three months, thinking they may just cure the problems with my hand. The numbness and weakness have persisted in my left hand- my guitar playing hand.
It seemed my hobby of playing guitar since age 14 (44 years) and my new career of 2 years- being a singer, songwriter, and guitarist- had left me. Blown up in my face- like the photo above. All my plans for my retirement career (an oxymoron?) had changed. I'm just now accepting the fact that I've lost the past 25 years of learning guitar. Don't get me wrong; I can play some, just sloppier than usual, and a "C" chord is out of the question, as are similar shaped chords, most rapid lead playing, etc.
I can still strum the thing, especially the above pictured Gibson Les Paul, which I purchased a few years back because it was the easiest to play electric guitar I had tried. But it lost out to my Fender Stratocaster, simply because the Strat had tone, tons of tone the Les Paul lacked. I am really glad I bought it now! I can barely play my Martin acoustic guitars anymore. My old standby Stratocaster, with its great tones, will go back in its case too soon I fear. It looks like the Les Paul will be my new guitar, not by choice, but by necessity. That's IF I decide to be a guitar strummer instead of a real player. (Alright, I can hear you guitar players out there yelling: "You idiot! Don't you know the Les Paul is one of the most sought after guitars in the history of rock music? You don't appreciate what you've got!" Yes- indeed I do appreciate the instrument. But it is famous for it's sustain- the ability to hold a note or chord, not its tone, which is usually generated by utilizing effects boxes and amplifier settings.)
I just miss the ability to really play, play hard, play solos, dig deep into the music. My strumming sounds about like it did back in college, albeit with more chords from which to choose. Nothing to brag about.
And I can still play drums. I could always be someone's drummer. But there goes my songwriting. Ever try to write a song using drums? I bet Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac) couldn't even do that.
Jimmy Buffett is a strummer. Lots of singer/ songwriters are strummers. They hire good guitar players to do the "heavy lifting"- the solos, etc. I guess I could do the same. So maybe the music business (or hobby) isn't over just yet for me. But it has changed, that much is real. I have to face facts.
I still haven't seen a spinal specialist because I fear their only answer would be surgery. I would probably consider surgery on my neck, if it will return all feeling to previous times. This is still kind of new to me; getting used to having trouble buttoning shirts, loading a memory card in my camera, or even cutting my fingernails on my right hand is all hard to do. I still do projects (-yesterday Deb helped me make three aluminum clad outside extension cords, which I placed by crawling on my belly to different corners under the porch,) and yard work, etc. And I can hang to a 24 foot ladder with my left hand while using the right to cut vines off our chimney with a hedge trimmer. But I can't really play guitar anymore. I waited three months before I notified our bass player that it was over and canceled my band's web site. That's life. Stuff happens. Let's just hope one of the things that dies isn't my involvement with music.
"That's life." " Stuff happens." Or, as my neighbor responded when I asked him if he knew why some laurel bushes might have died on the other side of my house, "Things die." Not the answer I was looking for, but still an answer. And a valid one.
Deb and I had just (luckily!!) sold our old home in Virginia this summer, invested loads of money into our new home and dock, when I woke up one morning with numbness in my left hand and pain in the left arm. The pain kept me from much sleep for many nights until a couple weeks of chiropractic adjustments ended it. It seems four years of football in high school wherein I used my neck, head and helmet as a battering ram, plus plain old spinal deterioration over the years caused a nerve or two that run down my left arm from my neck (spine) to be crushed/ pinched by the vertebra. I continued with the three times a week visits for three months, thinking they may just cure the problems with my hand. The numbness and weakness have persisted in my left hand- my guitar playing hand.
It seemed my hobby of playing guitar since age 14 (44 years) and my new career of 2 years- being a singer, songwriter, and guitarist- had left me. Blown up in my face- like the photo above. All my plans for my retirement career (an oxymoron?) had changed. I'm just now accepting the fact that I've lost the past 25 years of learning guitar. Don't get me wrong; I can play some, just sloppier than usual, and a "C" chord is out of the question, as are similar shaped chords, most rapid lead playing, etc.
I can still strum the thing, especially the above pictured Gibson Les Paul, which I purchased a few years back because it was the easiest to play electric guitar I had tried. But it lost out to my Fender Stratocaster, simply because the Strat had tone, tons of tone the Les Paul lacked. I am really glad I bought it now! I can barely play my Martin acoustic guitars anymore. My old standby Stratocaster, with its great tones, will go back in its case too soon I fear. It looks like the Les Paul will be my new guitar, not by choice, but by necessity. That's IF I decide to be a guitar strummer instead of a real player. (Alright, I can hear you guitar players out there yelling: "You idiot! Don't you know the Les Paul is one of the most sought after guitars in the history of rock music? You don't appreciate what you've got!" Yes- indeed I do appreciate the instrument. But it is famous for it's sustain- the ability to hold a note or chord, not its tone, which is usually generated by utilizing effects boxes and amplifier settings.)
I just miss the ability to really play, play hard, play solos, dig deep into the music. My strumming sounds about like it did back in college, albeit with more chords from which to choose. Nothing to brag about.
And I can still play drums. I could always be someone's drummer. But there goes my songwriting. Ever try to write a song using drums? I bet Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac) couldn't even do that.
Jimmy Buffett is a strummer. Lots of singer/ songwriters are strummers. They hire good guitar players to do the "heavy lifting"- the solos, etc. I guess I could do the same. So maybe the music business (or hobby) isn't over just yet for me. But it has changed, that much is real. I have to face facts.
I still haven't seen a spinal specialist because I fear their only answer would be surgery. I would probably consider surgery on my neck, if it will return all feeling to previous times. This is still kind of new to me; getting used to having trouble buttoning shirts, loading a memory card in my camera, or even cutting my fingernails on my right hand is all hard to do. I still do projects (-yesterday Deb helped me make three aluminum clad outside extension cords, which I placed by crawling on my belly to different corners under the porch,) and yard work, etc. And I can hang to a 24 foot ladder with my left hand while using the right to cut vines off our chimney with a hedge trimmer. But I can't really play guitar anymore. I waited three months before I notified our bass player that it was over and canceled my band's web site. That's life. Stuff happens. Let's just hope one of the things that dies isn't my involvement with music.
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