(5/16/21) Sunday Woke up early and watched an hour long YouTube video, Georgia Blues: Blind Willie McTell. It was interesting. If I had more time to read, I think I'd prefer biographies. My sliding porch door is hung like a barn door, with no track on the floor to trip over. It has been sagging on one side for a few months and drags the floor. I haven't wanted to think about it, because I forgot how it went up, and figured you might have to take everything down to fix it. (Denial) Turns out just the hanging brackets have to come off the door to adjust the height. One side-trip that wasted an hour. I thought you needed to take the door down to remove the brackets. The door is homemade, 42" x 96", 2.5 inches thick, and very heavy. Got it off the track, but chickened out trying to lay it down flat. There was no good way to hold it. Got it back on the track and started over. With some luck you could take one bracket off while leaving the other one on the track. It slides freely now. Clears the floor. Could have gone a little higher on the right side, but I know how to fix it now if it sags or warps. One thing crossed off the to-do list. I had no plans to do this today. Finally got to measure around the porch stairs this evening. They are going to look nice. But the project is ballooning already. I may make a step on each side as well as the front. Plus I want to raise the ground level up at least 8 inches, to the top of the first brick step. Then gradually slope it away from the house. I need a load of dirt. Hard-packing Georgia red clay.
10:00 am: . Male bluebird perched on top of clothesline pole. Three robins on the ground. Suddenly all 3 robins fly in the direction of the pole. One of them heads straight for the nest opening and backs off in an ungraceful manner. Bluebird on post takes after this robin. They make contact in air, and while heading toward the ground. All 4 fly off in the same direction. No birds in sight for the last 30 minutes. I don't like this. If all this happens when I watch for 1 minute out of the day, what is happening when I'm not watching. Not going to watch anymore. If I don't see it, it didn't happen.
There was a 30 minute segment on TV about the new all electric 2022 Ford F-150. It will be unveiled tomorrow (5/19). Test drive yesterday in Dearborn, Michigan.
Got the VIN# and order number required for tracking the imaginary Ranger. I guess they won't back out now. Ford tracking website says no estimated build date yet, but expected delivery is now July 25. I like this tracking business. No surprises. I know it can't get here before it's even built.
A few days ago I accidentally ran across another interesting character named Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1992-1973). Born in western North Carolina, Lunsford was a lawyer, folklorist, and performer of traditional folk and country music. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians." He began to travel and collect traditional music, often meeting singers and performers on isolated farms. Lunsford and Scotty Wiseman wrote the song "Good Old Mountain Dew" This hour long documentary about Mr. Lunsford was made for PBS, with much of the actual filming done in 1965. Another interesting (to me) biography. Why Bascom Fought For His Appalachian Mountain Music - 1998
Back on the porch steps. I really have to do this project. The steps are a little dangerous the way they are now. Sketching out plans forces me to consider the details. I pretend I'm actually doing the work. No side steps in the picture, yet. Maybe never. Still have to figure out how to join the porch floor with the deck floor. The porch floor boards are uneven on the ends. I'm willing to cut off the ends, or cut them back to the first fasteners, but there still has to be a transition. The neatest way will either become clear, or I'll eventually settle, but it may take a while. If it doesn't look neat to begin with, adding side steps won't help. Delivery charge for a truck load of dirt is the same no matter how much or how little you order. A person can always use more dirt. It will have to be unloaded at the back end of the driveway. Some of it might stay there a long time if I get too much. The first thought is to build up the area around the steps before starting anything. But why pile up dirt, then dig out holes? All these things have to be sorted out before I will start. Beginning to end.
I watched about a third of this,. Will watch the rest tonight. Mountain music started it all. You need to read what Beth had to say about you while visiting out at my WideSpot. Guess I feell similar.
Update: The Ford tracking website has now removed the expected Ranger delivery date (7/25/21) and replaced it with N/A. What does that mean? All it means for sure is someone tinkered with the data base. Don't like N/A. Can now successfully play the C scale downward. Still haven't mastered up. Lip won't slide in that direction. Need axle grease?
The tongue blocking method forces all the air flow to be on the right side of your mouth. So it's easier to slide left. And inhaling makes the air passageway smaller than exhaling. I still haven't figured out how to adjust, consistently, And I still end up shallow breathing. When/how does a person get to slip in a deep breath? I would pass out if I had to play more than 5 minutes without stopping. Nobody mentions that in online tutorial videos.
Quit tongue blocking and getting clear notes. Blow in and out naturally on hole two in and out, blowing air into the hole until you blow your air out, then draw through hole two and redfill your lungs. Blow holes holes one two and three, mot hard but easy, blow out your air, draw it back in, slowly until your lungs are filled.You might listen to someone who can articulate it better than I can. Or look up breathing through your diaphragm, in and out. Practice blow alll yourThere is always more than oneway to do something. How to breath playing a harmonica. Re: tongue bloc:king: What if you tong-blocked on the other side of the harp, where would it go? It's good to learn to put that tongue wherever needed. Before doing anything else, stop and learn a little bit about breathing with a harp. After I learned the very basics getting the harp to give the briefest of melody, breathing with the stomach area helped vastly. You can also brearhe under the bottom lip. There is always anther way to do something on a harp. Thebody has to adjust also. A little practice helps.
To tongue block on the other side, you close off the 3 holes to the right with your tongue, instead of to the left. I understand diaphragm breathing. That alone doesn't solve the problem. Adam Gussow tried to make a video on this subject. Blues Harmonica Breathing Tips - for Beginners It takes him a while to get to the point. A little above my pay grade. One of the comments below the video says just use your nose. I will try that, balance air flow between mouth and nose and see how it goes. Can't give up on practicing single notes just yet.