07 Mar 06 114173860528822371

My dad was in town for a couple of meetings this weekend. If you have ever been to D.C. you know there are many things to see here. We had a free day and timed it just right to tour the Guitar Center. It was a blast.

My dad has been playing the guitar since he was a young man and so he would show me a particular vintage guitar, explain how his guitar was different, tell me how much he sold it for in a pawn shop (you don’t want to know) and how much that same guitar would be worth today (another number you don’t want to know). He fell off a ladder a few years ago and broke his wrist. He has quite a bit of hardware in there and can’t bend his wrist to adequately play the guitar. We’ve been searching for solutions for the last few years every time we get together.

We sat in the expensive guitar room and played just about every guitar in that room. I was playing these really nice guitars and believe it or not I was thinking of Beth the whole time. “If I bought this guitar Beth would kill me” is what I was thinking.

I started playing the guitar when I was a kid because my dad played. I’ve played off and on for years and never applied myself to the craft until my dad got hurt and couldn’t play. I’m playing now better than I’ve ever played – still not on the level of Greg but I can hold my own. I realized today that I invested myself so energetically in guitar playing to somehow make up for the fact that my dad can’t play like he used to - an interesting angle on honor your father.

Tomorrow we are planning to visit an actual area landmark music store in Maryland before he has to catch his return flight home. That’s my idea of seeing the sights.