"Pickin' on the Bayou"

I sat in the living room listening to the twang of a banjo being laboriously picked.  It seemed to be a struggle to even get the thing to remotely sound like a stringed instrument...for about five minutes.  Michael and I bought Mark a banjo for his recent birthday.  When I first mentioned my brilliant gift idea to Michael, he said he was not so sure about this as a gift for his dad.  "Are you sure he will want a banjo?" he asked.  Absolutely!  I figured like this...I like banjo music so Mark would love the instrument as his gift.  So, Michael ordered the thing and within just a few days, a strange shaped box arrived.  Yippee!  Our gift was ready to be wrapped and given!

Mark opened his gift, his eyes grew wide with excitement.  "I have always wanted to learn to play the banjo!"  Whew!  I felt a bit better about my choice of a gift.  Now, if only he seriously sat down to learn to play some songs, I would be happy.  Well, a few days came and went.  The banjo made a visit to the local music shop for some extra strings and to be tuned.  Then came today..Mark picked up his banjo and plinked and planged on the thing for a bit.  The the racket stopped.  No more twangs.  Hmmm.  Nope, Mark had not stopped in frustration.  Was my imagination playing tricks on me or was he actually playing a tune?    In just a few minutes, he had already learned to do some fingering on this thing!  I listened. Yep, that banjo was twangin' out a nice little song!  I beamed!  It did not take long for Mark to figure out a few of the basics and get that instrument to actually behave itself!

I am proud of Mark's determination and look forward to hearing some fine music around here soon.  There will be "Pickin' on the Bayou" as entertainment for any future get-togethers that are held here!  Picnics, fish fries, and barbecues will all be a lot more fun with his playing!  Perhaps we can bring back the oldtime  "Sing-a-longs" once he learns lots of songs!   Now..see..it just goes to show that sometimes you have to go with a whim! (.......I am really glad that I did not get him a drum set!)  I love this banjo!