My Story #59 - "Black Keys Only"

  

My Story #59

BLACK KEYS ONLY

At 10 years old I was not a very good pianist, but I played piano all the time. I was learning melodies often, but I knew nothing about harmony or chords.

Gum Lick Baptist Church needed a piano player, and the word got out that I could play piano, so my parents were approached about my coming to church there to play piano for them for a while, which I did.

Little did they know that I had no idea that songs were written in different key signatures. Since I played in what I later learned was 6 Flats (almost all black notes), every song was sung in this key of G Flat (I think).

Sometimes the congregation were singing so low that they could hardly make a sound; other times they were singing so high that they were nearly screaming. I was never scolded nor ridiculed for my playing, so we just went through this spell of singing too high and too low.

I don't know how many people would even remember those days, but I am sure that someone somewhere remembers the highs and lows of that experience.

Now that I have learned more about chords and key signatures, I can more easily adjust for highs and lows. By the way, I no longer play in G Flat (ever) unless it is for fun. God is gracious.

 

My Story #58 - "What Is That?"

 

My Story #58

WHAT IS THAT?

When we lived in Chesapeake, Ohio, my wife sometimes cooked sausage and apples together. One day she did that and sat the dish on the table.

One of my little boys said, "What is that?" I said, "Those are sausages." He said, "Ostriches?" My other son said, "No, silly, they're hostages."

 

My Story #57 - Supper With Bluegrass Boys

 

My Story #57

Supper With Bluegrass Boys

One never knows what kind of conversations can be had when the Bluegrass Boys Quartet eat together. It doesn't matter whether others are there of not; we always have much to say. We tell stories from events in the past, discuss how to solve certain problems we may have, or just say funny things and laugh.

Either Friday or Saturday evening we were eating at Bob Evans Restaurant, and Bob Jones brought up the story about the quartet's going to a small church in Kentucky which was hard to reach. We drove so far; then we had to get out and walk. He told about how we were walking where it had rained, and the ground was really muddy. He said that, when I was walking, my crutches sank into the ground almost up to my hands. Then, he said, Demas Brubacher came back to try to help me to get the crutches out of the mud, and with both of our working, it was almost impossible to do it. I suppose everything worked out all right, because I am here today. Then he said that, when we got to the church, we had to break into the building. Then, he said, I took the piano apart to work on it before we sang. Now, that I did from time to time, scaring some of the members to death; but I would never damage a piano, as you can image.

Bob Jones is the one who asked me to write this today, so here it is for what it is worth. I just say, "Stay out of the mud, and don't tear pianos apart. You will live longer, no doubt.

 

My Story #56

Ronnie W. Wolfe
How Many Falls? God Is Good!

I have fallen many times in my life. I can remember a few. I have already mentioned the time that I was going to the barn to see my father, but I tripped on the step own from our front porch and fell on a huge rock and landed on my nose. My nose bled, but I was all right after a little while. God is good!

When I was about seven years old, my brother and I were going to the neighbor's house to do some work, and my brother placed me neatly into the basket on his bicycle. Then we took off up the road. When we got near the neighbor's house, my brother said, "How am I going to stop and get you out of that basket?" I said, "I don't know." Then he turned his bike to the left, went to the side of the road and kept going until he ran into a fence. I was dropped across the fence onto the ground in some very soft grass. Isn't God good!

My sister and I were at the creek with my parents when a storm was coming up, and my sister and I got on a horse together to go to the house per our parents' instructions. As we we going up the hill, a limb hit me in the head, and I fell off the horse onto a pile of rocks. I got up and walked the rest of the way. Isn't God good!

In 12th grade, we had to go downstairs to prepare some things for our graduation, and I lost my balance and fell down about 12-13 concrete steps. I remember only getting up and going on safely. Isn't God good!

In Lexington, living in an upstairs room, I began to go down the steps to go to work, and I hooked my crutch handle in my coat pocket and pulled myself down the steps, and I rolled down the steps and landed on the floor. Both my arms were paralyzed. No one was home with me. I lay there for a couple of minutes, and my arms began to tingle. Then, after a few more minutes, I could move my arms. After somewhere between five and ten minutes, I got up and went on to work. Isn't God good!

Well, God is good no matter what may have happened in my falls, but you know that I am thankful that God has taken care of his old sinner all of these years. I know the Lord is with me, and I trust him. God is really good to his saints.