A duck, a cello, and a very proud dad…

Day 341 of 365

Two days ago, we started putting Anna Maria into a separate fenced area, so she didn’t have to stay in the bathroom all day while she recovers from her injury.. She’s doing pretty well, though I know she wants to be back with her people. She is healing well, but is still separated from the flock.

I miss hanging out with her and listening to music with her. I loved seeing which music she liked. I could tell by her body language. In our time together, I have learned that Anna Maria makes a nervous back and forth movement when she is feeling anxious, but certain music makes her relax and listen.

Tonight, Ron was bringing Anna Maria into the house to sleep in the bathroom since she can’t sleep in the duck house. He said she was so scared being held that she was just trembling, but when Ron walked by the music room where our son was practicing his cello, he said Anna Maria stopped trembling and noticeably relaxed in his arms.

When my son was finished with the piece he was practicing, we asked him to play it again for Anna Maria. He said he was going to play something better for her. He played Bach’s Prelude to Cello Suite No. 1. This piece has a special place in all of our hearts because our son wanted to learn it so badly when he was little. When his teacher taught him how to play the whole thing, it was such a joy for all of us. And it’s a piece that remains a favorite for our son. He revisits old music fairly often, but the one piece he revisits most of all is this Prelude.

In fact, I have a series of videos of him playing it at different stages over the last few years. I think the first one was when he was 11. I said I was going to keep recording this piece his whole life to show his progress as a cellist, so every now and then, I get one on video. I haven’t recorded one in awhile, so tonight was perfect.

Anyway, I am so glad to share this video. It’s like my whole heart is in it–my son playing his cello, that beautiful duck, and Ron, holding that duck so she can listen to the music, and then that proud nod to our son at the end. Also, about mid-way through the video, you hear this scratching and sliding down the wall, that’s our cat, Betty, just being Betty. She was attacking the walls in the music room. She’s our wild child. Somehow, hearing Betty’s rowdiness just makes me love this video even more.