BS: I Love Rescued Things!

Subject: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 May 13 - 11:25 PM

Yesterday, the janitor in this Senior Center where I am now living brought in a guitar for me to see. He had discovered it in its soft case in a dumpster. It's a wonder that something wasn't thrown in on top of it.

The guitar is a Yamaha FG410EA, built according to its numbers in 1992, in good shape. It has all its parts including the wiring for electric.

Two of its strings were broken- and for some reason they were pretty badly rusted.

I brought it home, put new strings on it, tuned it and played a few tunes. The tone is bright but rather shallow; I don't think it's a guitar I would get for myself.

But Arthur is pleased as punch with it. He has never played an instrument but has always wanted to, he says. He thinks "the Lord" is telling him to get busy.

I made a chords chart for him of just the easiest, most common keys: A, C, D and G.

When I delivered it to him today, the in-house care facilitator immediately offered to buy it from him. Arthur says he isn't getting rid of it any time soon.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 13 - 11:28 PM

Sounds like you have a vibrant community there, Ebbie. Can you teach Arthur in addition to giving him visual aids? And does the facilitator ever play music at work?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: KT
Date: 02 May 13 - 12:13 AM

That's terrific, EB! On all counts!! You go, girl!

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 May 13 - 12:22 AM

I told Arthur that I'll be happy to play with him as soon as he is ready but that he needs to get his fingers going- and that means practice. I told him that I'll bring my guitar down sometimes and we can sit side by side and make the chords. Mike, the facilitator, told him to set the guitar by his chair at home and pick it up every time he sits down.

(Mike doesn't have an instrument at the moment, he says. He gave his guitar to a 9-year-old who is taking guitar at school.)

Arthur may have a problem beyond that of most people. Unless he is just being shy - he claims not to know any songs. On the other hand he said that he sometimes sings along to the radio. I already know he likes gospel songs and those will be the easiest to learn, no doubt. Arthur is a black man- I hope he doesn't expect me to sing Motown!

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: JennieG
Date: 02 May 13 - 12:36 AM

What a lucky find! Sounds as though it has gone to an appreciative owner.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: GUEST
Date: 02 May 13 - 06:17 AM

A lovely story. Heartwarming.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 02 May 13 - 07:23 AM

Well done, Ebbie. It may not be the greatest guitar in the world, but it's a guitar and it can make music.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Bobert
Date: 02 May 13 - 09:38 AM

If anyone finds an old National tenor tri-cone in a dumpster I'll be more than happy to take care of it for ya'...

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 May 13 - 10:46 AM

*g* I'll keep an eye out for it, Beaubear.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 May 13 - 10:59 AM

Great tale, but not BS unless we get into other rescued things, like my cat, whom I found at a save-a-kitty booth at a local fair, and the people there had never had a successful kitty-saving apparently because when I took one look at her and couldn't leave, they didn't have the proper paperwork with them and it took HOURS which I was very happy to spend there with the kitty, waiting for the rescue people to get their act together...

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 May 13 - 12:20 PM

An expansion on the subject was what I was hoping for, Mrrz. Your lucky kitty fits right in. :)

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 02 May 13 - 12:48 PM

Our cat is a rescue as well. We got him from the local rescue centre and he's great. He used to live on a canal boat but would go walkabouts when his owners wanted to move on - they nicknamed him The Wanderer - so they had to let him go.

When we went to collect him about 3 others cats jumped into the basket with him!

BTW, Bobz. A local folkie called Bill Caddick once found a national steel guitar in a skip (dumpster) - over 20 years ago if my memory serves me well - and still plays it.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Deckman
Date: 02 May 13 - 01:26 PM

I found some wimmen like that. After some time, I can't remember who rescued who. Oh well ... that's likely NOT the kind of "rescue " you had in mind! bad bad bob

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 May 13 - 02:00 PM

"I found some wimmen like that. After some time, I can't remember who rescued who."

No worries- the women know. *g*

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 13 - 03:18 PM

I rescued an old dresser, sans the mirror, a couple of summers ago, from a swap area in a recycle yard. I've since sanded and painted it with a glossy black enamel and it looks gorgeous and is going to be re-purposed as a buffet in my dining room.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 May 13 - 03:32 PM

Rescue bulbs and perennials from districts undergoing "gentrification" and rebuilding.

One of the best finds was Lilium martagon album, a white "turk's cap" lily. This was years ago. They have divided many times and I have given many bulbs away.
It grows well here in Calgary (western Canada) in our short season.

Small town dumps are a source of old furniture. I have a nice settler's chest that I restored. Torn-up furniture is a source of wood for projects- oak, mahogany, etc. My daughter got a mahogany dining room table and a good wardrobe which she fitted with shelves for storage.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: gnu
Date: 02 May 13 - 03:47 PM

guest at 6:17 w/o cookie

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Bettynh
Date: 02 May 13 - 05:45 PM

Q, sometimes I do the bulb thing the other way - tuck in a few crocus or other little bulbs that'll grow in a lawn into the new "landscaping" of official buildings and stores.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 May 13 - 06:25 PM

"So after the prince climbs up to rescue the fair maiden from the tower, then what happens?"
"She rescues him right back!"
(Pretty Woman)

I have had a number of rescue dogs, every one a wonderful companion. As I got older, I chose to rescue old dogs so I would not outlive them. I am able to accept the two or three years they are with me as a gift we would not otherwise have had. None right now as life is too chaotic and unsettled. Last year we rescued 8 orphaned raccoons, the most enchanting creatures on earth.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 May 13 - 11:57 AM

My piano is an almost-rescued thing. It didn't come from the dump or the curb, it came from a grade school, and it had been sitting untuned and unplayed for years. Many of the key tops were missing. They probably didn't know it, but when that piano was made in 1906, it was the best upright made - an Ivors and Pond.

At one point a janitor had been told to refinish it. He had taken a quart of shellac or something and simply heaved it on. Drips ran down it everywhere. I refinished it.

A friend of mine is a tuner, and she set up a deal where if I paid the $90 for moving, I could have the piano. I had my friend do some work on it, and I have been playing it ever since. It is 107 years old now. The high notes are a little harsh, but delicate playing helps with that. The low notes are so rich and deep and powerful they are to DIE for.

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 May 13 - 12:04 PM

Wow!

Subject: RE: BS: I Love Rescued Things!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 May 13 - 12:22 PM

We have an old upright grand in the basement. The sound board is cracked. We haven't moved it out for disposal because it is too heavy and we don't want to pay movers their big fees.