My hands

Whenever I play, one or two people come and stand nearby but not too close, arms folded, staring at my hands. "Mesmerizing," they say. I've done and said the same when I've watched other harpists play.

But I so rarely get to see my own hands in action from any other perspective, obviously, than behind the harp where I sit. I used to try to practice in a mirror when I was unlearing my self-taught "technique." Impossible. It's like trying to read upside-down and backwards. A couple of times I've seen myself perform on a video of a concert, but rarely close-up.

This photo was taken at an open house I played at last month.
The nice photographer emailed me some great shots.
I love the close-up, the motion, the way you can see
how my fingers are really working.

My hands are very strong after all these years of playing the harp. Especially since I've had the concert harp, which has quite the tension. I remember shaking a man's hand once and he said, "Whoa! Do you milk cows for a living?" Funny.

I'm off to change THREE broken harp strings (this changing weather), and then will put my hands on the strings for a little personal harp therapy.

Keep warm and dry out there, everyone.