Cigarette Papers and Crazy Daze

Ah yes! And they say short term memory loss? I don’t remember forgetting anything…I was getting home from school one day in September.  I had a lousy day at school and was in the mood to just get away from it all. Now I remember at this point in my life that I had fallen in love with the music of Led Zeppelin. I was constantly listening to it and obsessing over it. As a matter of fact I was usually singing their songs to myself  all day during school and even during detention.  I was truly captivated for the first time with music.

   So anyways, I had these little cigarette papers and there was something to put in the papers…and out came the headphones! My mother was working and so was my father, so I had the house to myself.  I closed my eyes and listened intently to the lyrics of that great song that we all know and love and I was carried away with the imagery of the lyrics and the siren sounds of the music.  The lyrics and melody were reflective and pensive, almost melancholy really. The music was sort of lonesome yet tinged with optimism. Pretty much, the mood of this song was a lot like my personality.

   These were some of the observations I was making at the time but little did I know, that very day would be a pivotal day in my life! I became so incredibly drawn to that song, on that day, that I realized what a powerful force music was. I decided that I wanted to be a part of that somehow. With a sudden flash of inspiration I grabbed my guitar, which I had only begun to play, and I made a commitment to myself  to somehow make a living with music, and I began to really practice. From that day on I practiced my guitar for at least 6 hours every single day. I did that for years!

  Finally I managed to get a job teaching guitar and years later, as a matter of fact to this very day, I still teach. I work at home and give lessons for a living and I’ve been doing it for years, and loving it. Those were some crazy days…now where are my cigarette papers?