One of the delightful experiences living here in Long Branch is the rich bird life. When spring arrives, one of the first things I notice around here is the abundance of bird songs and cries. This morning I took the dogs out for their first walk of the day over to the water filtration plant and Sam Smith Park. There were several distinct layers of sound – birds out over the lake, on the spit, in the trees, on the ground. Nobody was about, just me and the dogs and the birds. It was a magical moment.

We arrived back home to the sobering discovery that one of our cats failed to keep his breakfast down. The was without a doubt Shadow. If he eats too fast or too much, the result is the same every time. I keep a spiral bound book of tunes I’m playing or learning or want to learn on the button accordion, and this was sitting on the desk beside the computer. Of all the places Shadow could choose, he vomited on The Broken Reed Polka. After yesterday’s heart-breaking accordion accident, this simply added insult to injury. Maybe this is some kind of omen?

Both my GCF diatonic boxes are out of the house right now. The Guerrini is in the shop for repair and my Corona II is out on loan to my student. I’ve started to learn the chromatic accordion, but I haven’t been putting as much time in with it as I should, mostly because I’ve been learning some new tunes on the GCF, as I’m thinking about doing some busking again soon. I guess now is a good time to bear down and really start getting used to the fingering for the C-system.