My Secret Garden
My Secret Garden
I live in South Miami, just outside Coral Gables. I have an extensive garden, with much tropical vegetation. My study has a door onto this garden; I go out there a fair amount. It has a jungle feel. In this garden I have a full-size competition-level trampoline shaded by trees. I also have an archery range, including a knife-throwing set-up. I have three slices of a large tree trunk that used to be in my garden but had to be cut down; they are my targets. As reported earlier, I throw knives (really spikes) lefthanded, though I am righthanded, specializing in the no-spin throw from varying distances. This activity interacts with my tennis (as well as drumming and guitar). But I just added another activity: shot-put. I now have a designated shot-put area where I throw (toss?) the steel ball lefthanded. My garden isn’t big enough to accommodate my discus throwing (lefthanded), so I need to take that activity to a local park, where I also throw lefthanded frisbee. I am now a “lefthanded man”, a new type of human: a righthanded lefthander. I am hoping and expecting that the shot-put discipline will help with my tennis; indeed, I think it already has. Is it for everybody? I won’t go that far (same for discus), but for me it is a valuable addition. Now my garden feels like a place I like to hang out in as my own personal sports arena. I don’t garden much but I do enjoy playing in my garden.[1]
[1] Let me add that I like to play guitar while I watch television. They are showing old episodes of the original Star Trek six nights a week, which hold up amazingly well, so I play guitar while watching Kirk and Spock. But I am now watching a lot of Olympic coverage and playing guitar then too; this means that I am playing guitar for many hours at a time. I was struck by how much this lengthy playing has improved my guitar technique. So, I suggest that guitar teachers recommend long hours of guitar playing in front of the television. It takes the boredom out of practice and it justifies watching too much television. It’s also quite pleasant.
Yup, It’s official – Star Trek and Tv are good for the old guitar skills – good for songwriting too.., or at least stumbling on ideas (I like how ideas are stumbled on as if one were inspector Clouseau). Had many good ideas watching Star Trek. The trouble I have is that I get an idea, love it to bits then spend 6 months trying to record it on analog tape and have no time to just sit and play, so it takes me a long time to get back into it.
I must try and play guitar left-handed, there is a theory that Lennon and McCartney were so good at songwriting because Macca was left handed and so could sit opposite John as a mirror image – far easier to learn chords from one another if it’s just like you’re looking into a mirror.
It may not be relevant, but Manet painted a left-handed guitar player; it’s at the Met: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436944
Looks like he’s watching Star Trek too
The episode on Spock’s brain is very philosophical. Spock’s dinner with the Romulan commander (female) is pretty stirring stuff too.