Slice of Life: Play(ing) it Loud(er)

(This is for the Slice of Life challenge, hosted by Two Writing Teachers. We write on Tuesdays about the small moments in the larger perspective … or is that the larger perspective in the smaller moments? You write, too.)

My wife and I were enjoying a day on the bike trail, heading to downtown for some lunch and wandering. As we were coming off the trail to connect with the road, I could just hear the faint stands of music.

“Someone must be cranking their radio,” I thought, and then as we got closer, I added, “and it’s pretty loud.”

We rounded a turn and there, on the lawn of a house that was kitty-corner to two busy roads, was a man in his 60’s — donning a fedora hat on his head and wearing a bright tie-dye t-shirt — with an electric guitar and an amplifier. He was strumming power chords and singing at the top of his lungs, but the guitar was so loud, there was no way you could make out what he was singing. He didn’t care.

No one was watching, and he was not playing for anyone other than himself. The look on his face was perfect – eyes half-closed, mouth in a near smile, and his posture in the classic rock and roll pose, bent slightly forward over the body of the guitar. He hit another power chord, and the distortion blew out over the neighborhood.

I slowed down a little, gave a little wave, but he hardly noticed, and continued on my way, a fellow rock and roller giving silent thanks to some loud music on the lawn.

Peace (in the city),
Kevin

6 Comments
  1. No doubt this slice could be a poem,Kevin. You bring the image and the sounds right to us. Even the non sounds of his voice that’s overcome by the guitar. Great capture of a moment of music.

  2. This line: “No one was watching, and he was not playing for anyone other than himself.” This should be the objective in all we do in schools and in life. I will bring this image with me in the work I do today. Thank you!

  3. Kevin, you captured a small moment that led to the meeting of minds over a rock and roll tune. I bet you wish you could have jammed at that moment. I hope you and your wife enjoyed your day.

  4. There’s something to be said for being in the moment- as a wishful musician I can feel this man’s enjoyment with his guitar and his tunes. You really bring the reader into this post and the experience- I can visualize a lot of it. Thanks!

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