Rain Gets Everyone Wet

Saturday morning I woke to the sound of thunder, but instead of wondering how far off, I lay and wondered when the last time I had seen the rain. I don’t mean a mixture of snow, sleet or freezing rain. I’m talking about one of those all day deals where it rains and rains and people happily stay indoors; Dad would refer to it as a beautiful rain.

As I lay there the needs of the day pressed in on me; I tried to relax for a few more minutes listening to the thunder. Soon the storm passed or as Eudora Welty said, “The storm had rolled away to faintness like a wagon crossing a bridge.” As it happened it rained only a little in the morning, although I stayed inside for most of the day anyway. I had to practice playing my banjo for a performance Saturday night. I’m in a band – sort of.  

It all started with my friend, Mark, who suggested that I learn to play the banjo and incorporate it into a comedy routine like Steve Martin did.  He may as well have suggested that I incorporate lying on my back with painting like Michelangelo is purported to have done while painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Another of his ideas (Mark’s an idea guy) was to have some friends of his who are in a band (No Stone Unturned) play in the loft of the barn. That night (almost three years ago) the guys in the band heard I had a banjo (which they misinterpreted as me being able to actually play the banjo). Through the use of peer pressure, they convinced me to play along with them on a couple songs.

I was pretty terrible; I produced a sound similar to that of cats fighting. Yet I liked it. I took lessons, practiced and played with the band a few more times during the next couple years. For reasons unknown to me, they kept asking me back to play with them. The most recent invitation came a couple weeks ago.

Some time last week Don, the band’s leader, sent me their play list. The unspoken understanding is that I select a few songs to practice so I can play along with them and hopefully avoid public humiliation. But I didn’t have time to practice during the week because of all the writing, rewriting and revising I was being asked to do for a couple church projects.

I can get a little annoyed when my writing is subjected to the critique of others – one of my many character flaws. I was sharing this with Mr. A at church on Sunday and my need to see the bigger picture. He listened and then summed up my perspective with these words, “It’s not all about me is it?”

As I played with the band Saturday night, I realized it’s often better to harmonize than to stand out. I played three songs with them, Take it Easy, Wagon Wheel and Have You Ever Seen the Rain?