Grandmas Goulash

If Bones had half a brain, he’d cherish the memories of a fully intact skeleton. Old Miss Frame had loved watching Trick-or-Treaters thru her window until her joints became too stiff to extract her head from the blinds.

Yesterday, Calico and I were discussing Miss Muffin’s growing guitar skills. We’re both delighted that she is doing so well and practices daily without reminders. “Remember when I was like that with the clarinet?” Calico asked. I thought for a minute and gave her a look that needed no words. She knew exactly what I was thinking. When Calico was in fifth grade, she wanted to play a clarinet in the school band. The school’s supply of instruments was limited, however, and her teacher was late in sending interested students to see the band director. By the time she got there, a tuba and a few percussion instruments were the only choices. The director saw her disappointment and offered a solution. “You can  buy clarinet s here”, he said, handing me a list of stores. “They carry used instruments suitable for beginners at very low prices.”  A visit to each of the stores on the list confirmed this. Unfortunately, the used instrument supply was fairly depleted by that time of ...