Whoops, blew that one

Stuart Florida

NoLL

Regular readers know how often I mention how little space there is on a boat and how careful we must be about acquiring clutter. Well, this Christmas I ignored my own advice and did something really stupid.

Years ago, while in college, I learned to play the accordion. I loved playing that thing, hour after hour, just for relaxation. Unfortunately, an accordion is much too big to carry on the boat. Another obstacle is moisture and mold which tend to quickly ruin the paper used to make the accordion bellows.

I've been practicing with a harmonica. I've been getting good enough at it to realize that I can never be really good at it because of my denture.

I thought I had a bright idea. I looked on Ebay for an electronic music keyboard. I found a brand new one, bid and won it for only $25. I thought that was really cheap. I visualized a little thing about the size of a rolled up newspaper that ran on batteries. What I actually got is about 4x1.5 feet in size and uses AC power. Oh no!

It is completely unsuitable for the boat. I'll play with it a few weeks in Stuart and Vero, but then I'll have to get rid of it somehow.

Now, it occurs to me that a keyboard was not the right thing in the first place. If I had been thinking clearer I would have though of those devices that are wind powered but which have a piano keyboard. I believe they are called melodicas.